Well done to those who guessed right, we are in India!!!

Only half the story I am afraid though! - We are spreading our last six weeks between two countries.....neither of which were on the original list.......let the guesses for round two commence!!

Our journey here started back with the trip to the Indian Embassy in Singapore. Thankfully, after the five day wait our visas were approved and after waiting another hour an a half for them to print off the passport sticker we actually made it to the airport on time!

We had witnessed the miserable manager blow hot and cold with people asking for express visas and although we could see no logic to his random acts of kindness a chat to an Australian couple provided the answer . . . he gave them a day off the normal schedule because he liked the guy's facial hair . . . apparently it was very Indian!

After a connecting flight to Kuala Lumpur we arrived in Delhi late at night and were pleased to see the guy from the guesthouse waiting for us . . . the first and only time we were pleased to see him!

The first thing we learnt about India is that it is actually cold in winter! Not only that but they are having their coldest weather in history - Delhi hit freezing point for the first time ever last week! We are regretting sending the jumpers and warm socks home . . . again!

We have really enjoyed our few days in Delhi and are already glad that we changed our plans.

Old Delhi is crazy - mentally crowded streets with goats, the world's largest cows, street sellers and pedestrians all fighting for the same inch of road as the rickshaws and tuktuks. New Delhi is marginally less crazy and, being laid out as a new town under British design is made up of straight roads and roundabouts!!

Our first impressions of India are great and have so far found the place less intense and awash with touts and beggars than the guide books lead you to believe. One possible reason for this is that Delhi has been awarded the 2010 Commonwealth Games and Cricket World Cup and is really focussed on tourism as a result. We have seen a high police presence at all the main tourist sites and can't help wondering if a clean up of some of the normal annoyances associated with India hasn't already started.

Two quick lessons for Indian travel have already been learnt though. Firstly, you really have to hold your own in a queue here. We have never been barged and jostled by so many little old ladies before! Gemma learnt, after losing her place about 20 times, that these little old biddies are a darnsight tougher than they look - we possess a distinct advantage as for the majority, our elbows are at head height! Secondly, the hotels hard sell of tours does live up to its infamous hype! Until he finally got the message that it wasn't going to work with us, we had a guy pop up almost every time we left our room for a "chat"!

Another early observation, (although it has been evident across Asia and is in many ways fair enough) is that the price differential for entrance fees between locals and foreigners is crazy here. Imagine at home a sign that says:

Entrance Fee: British 15p; Foreigners £5.00

And that is pretty much what we see everywhere here!

We have walked miles and miles, taking in the sights, sounds (and not to mention smells!) of Delhi and on our last day hired a car and driver to give our legs a rest. We've been to the vast Red Fort, Jama Masjid (India's largset mosque), spice markets, various temples and the fantastic Humayun's tomb (a rival for the Taj Mahal) to name but a few.

It is great to see so many Indian's visiting their own sites - by far the busiest being the Lotus Temple in South Delhi. This is the first multi-faith temple that we have seen - where people of any religion are welcome to visit, pray, meditate etc.

All in all our first few days have really wet our appetite for the next few weeks (though Gemma is still struggling to come to terms with the decline in "Public Convenience" standards!) and later today we fly to the holy city of Varanasi.