Delhi was a really incredible place, we spent 4 nights in a lavish hotel which we had found in The Book, but had recently been renovated and felt like a five star hotel. It was cheap too, and provided us with endless cups of tea and coffee and A/C which turned out to be an absolute life saver. The streets of old Delhi (which was where we were staying) were narrow and shambolic but I loved every one of them. Every step you took was an adventure, even if you're just going out to get a bottle of water! Electrical cables hung precariously from building to building meeting at rickety old pylons in what can only be described as birds nests. The climate was dry on a new level. Sunglasses were essential to keep the dust out of your eyes and bottled water would be at bath temperature before you drank it!

On the third day, we rented a taxi and a driver to take us to all the main sights in Delhi. These included;

The Red Fort - This was a beast. A huge red (surprisingly) complex with loads to see within the walls. Spent a few hours wondering around the outer walls, which spread out 2km in a straight line.

Jama Masjind - The biggest Mosque in India which took 14 years to build. Unfortunately it was closed when we arrived although we were able to enjoy it from the outside!

Raj Ghat - really modern looking black marble platform, which marks the place where Gandhi was cremated.

Gandhi Smriti - a brilliant interactive museum about the life of Gandhi. I found it very interesting, and it had a life size wax works of him. Also there is the room where he spent his last days.

India Gate& Humayuns tomb.

And my personal favorite - The Lotus Temple - which was a fantastic modern temple which was open to all religions. It was a bit out of the way but well worth it. Its form is reminiscent of the Sydney Opera house, although entirely symmetrical as it was made to look like a lotus flower seemingly floating on sections of pond which surround it. As you can tell, I loved it!

From Delhi, we set off in search of tigers at Corbett Tiger Reserve. Although this wasn't a simple procedure as it involved working out the over complicated Indian rules and fares. In all there was about 12 different charges for different things which are still not understood by people 15years in the business. Luckily Giresh, a restaurant owner in the near by town of Ramnigar made the process much easier as he explained to us over a brilliant dinner. The next morning we were in a Suzuki Jeep on our way into the reserve with our driver (hero) and compulsory tour guide (who said less than the driver) ready for two days and two nights in search of wildlife.

We got to the campus where we would be staying for the night after driving right through the park for around 30km. at this point we were feeling pretty confident of finding a tiger before our time was done, seeing as our driver had already pointed out 3 different types of deer, a kingfisher and a heard of elephants! This wasn't even meant to be a safari! We signed in and found the log hut where we would sleep along with 12 others that night. The dorm was reminiscent of an army barracks, although the bunks were even more treacherous as they were triple deckers with the top deck (my choice) about 2.5meters off the ground! We headed to the canteen for lunch and had a post lunch kip until our afternoon safari. This safari was about as successful as the drive in, seeing plenty of Elephants and a wild bore. The scenery was so beautiful with a magnificent sunset by a lake! We returned from some more school dinner canteen before retiring to our dorm ready for the early start for the dawn safari.

The next two safaris were more about the beautiful surroundings rather than the wildlife that seemed to be offended by our smell and as a result vanished altogether, other than a elephant bull on a quest to find a female. He managed to form a blockade across the road we needed to go down and didn't seem to want to move, so not in an argumentative mood, we decided to abort and turn around. We were staying in another area of the reserve for the second night. We had been told there was different wildlife there and it wasn't as busy so were more likely to find a tiger. On the way to the other campus we found tiger prints and our driver could smell the tiger's presence. We all got our stealth mode out and immediately the adrenaline was pumping. We drove on for another 5 minutes and stopped. We could hear the alarm calls coming from the monkeys in the trees and later the Barking deer let out its alarm call. It was all feeling hopefull until we were forced to leave in order to get to the campus before the gate closed at 7. so that was as close as we got to seeing the tiger… but it was still really exciting!

The following morning, we raced back to town in order to beat the town close down due to the elections. Despite our best efforts and arriving at 6am the town was shut and there was no public transport running. So we were forced to check into a cheap hotel in Ramnegarh to spend the night until we could catch the bus the following morning to Dehra Dun. This was our half way travel breaker to the destination of Shimla,. So the night in Dehra Dun was spent eating a great meal and relaxing in a sheesha bar.

The following morning we headed off to the bus stand in search of the bus to Shimla. However plans went wrong again when we found that the bus was so full that even if there was 2 busses more, we still wouldn't have got on. There were people riding on the roof racks and hanging out the window, so we were forced to move onto plan B - by bus to Chandigarh - which was apparently a modern city which was all grid lined and new. On first impressions it met the description. After we got off the bus in sector 9 our excitement crumbled. This town was so spread out that it seemed near enough impossible to get around. The so called 'sectors' were 1km square and meant that there was a different sector for everything, however no one could seem to tell us where the sector for hotels was! We spent hours looking for hotels only to be told they were apparently full until finally we found a matchbox room in the middle of nowhere. We had given up after our 12hour bus ride and endless hunt and accepted the room where we promptly showered ate room service food and died.

The only thing worth mentioning in Chandigar was the fantastic Rock gardens. I've included loads of pictures which better describe the garden than my words. All I will say is that the garden was made entirely by one man who kept it as a personal secret garden until it was discovered 15years later when the land was about to be reclaimed for building. It was then made into a national gallery. Everything is made from things which had been thrown away such as bracelets and pottery. It was fascinating to look around!

This brings you up to date with our goings on, until a week or two ago… will update you on Manali etc asap!

Thanks for reading!