I had heard so many stories about India before I arrived. The traffic, the smells, the colours, the beggars, the poverty, the food, the food poisoning, the people looking at you all the time, the way it can change your perspective on the world. Yet I had no idea what to expect when I stepped from the security of Delhi airport. Fortunately the hotel had sent someone to come and pick me up from the airport, and he was waiting with a sign with my name on it. The drive from the airport was exhilarating, with streets full of cars, buses, rickshaws, cows, bikes. I am still not quite sure why there are not more crashes; it is definately a different style of driving than in New Zealand - we rely on brakes and formal road rules, whereas Indian drivers rely on horns, and give way rules are based primarily on the size of the oncoming vehicle. I had seen photos of Indian chaos, but somehow I was expecting that Delhi, the capital of India, would have at least some streets that resembled what we think of as a road in New Zealand.

Eventually the driver stopped on Main Bazaar Rd in Pahaganj. The hotel was basic but apart from the person vomiting loudly in the room next door, it was pleasant enough. The following morning I went out to find something to eat. Main Bazaar was much busier than the previous night, with motorbikes and rickshaws rushing past, people selling things, tourists, dogs, cows, children begging. I found somewhere near the hotel to eat and order Masala Dosa, which is basically like a big crepe with curry inside. Yum!

Later that day I met up with Anil, Laura's friend from Nepal, who is studying in Delhi. I was so happy to see him, that when he arrived, despite having never met him before I greeted him with a massive hug. We spent the next few days visiting the tourist sites of Delhi along with his friend Rajeev. The most impressive of these sites was Akshardham Temple. Around dusk we made it through the gates. Lights lit up the temple and the hazy twilight made the temple look quite spectacular. A water fountain show was starting as we arrived. The fountains were lit up with multi-coloured lights, and looked like fireworks, all set to music...

Built out of pink Rajistani sandstone, the temple itself was impressive. Around the base were carved a series of elephants, depicting various creation stories that were explained to me my Anil, his friend Rajeev and various other Indian tourists who were also visiting the temple. Unfortuately cameras are not allowed within the temple, however I managed to take a sneaky photo from the subway station afterwards (although I found out afterwards this was also not allowed - presumably this is a security measure).

During my time in Delhi we also visited the Lotus Temple and the Red Fort and had a lovely meal at Anils house on the outskirts of Delhi.

After several days of exploring Delhi, I farewelled Anil at the old Delhi railway station, after assuring him that I would not trust anyone, I would not accept food or drink from strangers and I would ring him as soon as I got to Jodhpur. It had been a great few days but I was looking forward to meeting Govind and the students at Sambhali Trust and seeing the place that I would be living for the next month.