Smyling with M&D in Delhi

It was a two day count down until the much anticipated arrival of Mum and Dad (M&D). We were back in Smyle and pleased that a few of the locals around Main Bazaar remembered us. It was an obligatory dinner at Kathmandu restaurant and some shopping in Main Bazaar for M&D's Christmas present-an Indian Survival Pack!

We couldn't meet M&D at the airport as we had the mission of updating our Indian Visa into our new passports. We said our final goodbyes to our lovely hosts at Smyle and after some hard bargaining with an auto driver; who throughout the morning I wanted to punch in the face with every second that passed. We found Basil's after a lot of detours and the driver warning us of the dangerous area; 'full of Muslims'-so racist and hinting that he knew a place that would be much cheaper. We had to get to the high consulate and from there we were told to go to another place but the driver was so irritating 'ohh very far' that we just got dropped at Basil's to wait in the lovely rooms. Just to finish the grand morning off he then insulted my freckles and gave me some suggestions of removing them and how to stop getting more-thanks!

We were settling into our room and organising a pile of stuff for M&D to take back home for us when we heard activity in the next room and the sweet, sweet sound of familiar voices. We were finally reunited with my lovely M&D and after reorganising our luggage and opening some much needed early xmas/birthday presents we went to Connaught Place (CP). Getting to CP was a mini adventure as we took two autos (tuk tuks) with Mum and I in one and Dad and James in another. M&D are tuk tuk virgins and we weren't sure if they would love or hate the experience. Fortunately they both loved it, soaking in the chaos, smells and alien sights. It took a lot longer to get to the centre of Delhi than we had anticipated and after a long flight and a crazy tuk tuk journey we thought it'd be an appropriate moment to introduce M&D to a coffee that would change their life… well, that might be an exaggeration but it definitely made the Indian experience a more enjoyable one at Café Coffee Day (CCD). The shop at CP was certainly an improvement to the ones James and I have been in so we went back twice more to indulge in delicious coffee and some spicy snacks. Coffee was the theme of the day and we had an amazing curry at 'United Coffee House' restaurant, a colonial themed restaurant that was one of the first restaurants in CP.

We got a taxi back to Basil's and then I bored M&D with photos of India so far, so much so Dad began to nod off!