The one and a half hour flight from Kathmandu to Dehli was amazingly picturesque. One snow capped mountain rolled into the next into the next. The plane followed the mountain ranges, we then made a left hand turn and flew into Dehli.

The airport had been recently rebuilt in time for the Commonwealth games, it was very swish and the security was very tight with police everywhere carrying machine guns. No outsiders were allowed into the airport; this gave us a good opportunity to sit down without being hassled by rampant taxi touts, have lunch; a toasted cheese and tomato sandwich and a lassi and read our travel guide to see where we were going.

'Ginger Hotel, New Dehli, please'; the taxi obliged. The traffic was horrific, although there were painted lanes the vehicles took no notice, it seems ok to make 5 or 6 lanes out of a 4 lane carriageway!! There was one lane that was marked for 'Commonwealth Games Vehicles Only'. Seems clear enough we thought; wrong. As soon as there is no police in sight it is jammed pack with motor bikes, cyclists, cars, buses, trucks, etc. I read in the paper the following day that the minister for police said they would jail anyone that didn't observe the road traffic rule (somewhat over the top). There was a comment made that no one takes these threats seriously. From my observation both in Nepal and India there are no enforced traffic regulations, there is constant honking of horns and everyone makes up their own rules.

That evening we took a motor rickshaw (toot toot; a three wheeler vehicle that is common in India and Nepal) in search for dinner at Connaught Place. Leigh had been to Dehli before and this was the place to go, a cental garden with the Rajiv Chowk metro, that took us home by train on a number of occassions. The white two storey buildings of Connaught place radiates from the central garden. We had dinner and then flaked out back at the hotel.

We discovered we were fifty meters from the entrance to the New Dehli metro, so we utilised this mode of transport on numerous occassions while in Dehli. The following day we went back to Connaught Place to book a half day tour of the major sites. One of the options for the tour was to visit the red fort, but this looked too impressive for a fleeting visit so we decided to go the following day independently. To book our tour we had to go the Indian Government Tourist Bureau, this would normally be straight forward but in true Indian style private operators adopt very similar names such as Tourist Government Bureau, this is made worse by the deliberate misrepresentation by touts who get a commission by private operators by bringing you to their premises so they can close the deal. We found where we needed to go and were told by one of the touts that we were going to the wrong Tourist Bureau, the one we were going to was only for Indians. Pull the other leg, we ignored him and finally booked our tour.

We took the Metro to Chandia Chowk, this was the old city of Dehli. When we got off the metro we asked directions to the Red Fort and wound our way through narrow alley ways till we got to Old Dehli Bazaar. We decided to walk through here instead of following the main Road to the Fort; we had plenty of time it was mid morning. We discovered many interesting venders, there was a whole section of shops that sold nothing but beads and other ornaments for saris There was someone using a coal fired heated iron to iron garments, opposite I was beckoned by four smiling 18ish boys to come up a ladder to where they were working making small casts, I walked up into a space that was the size of three toilet cubicles with a height of less than 2meters. The boys were asking me to take a photo of them and play it back to them, they enjoyed seeing themselves on the screen. Other notable sights were the many food venders and the man that was melting gold for die casting in a ceramic crucible over a small coal furnace the size of a bucket. This was powered by a hand winched fan (Leigh's description not mine); in other words he was melting gold in a ceramic pot over an open flame fire. Lol.

The Red Fort (Lal Qila) was an impressive red sandstone sight. The walls extended two kilometers and was built in the 17th century. As you enter the gate there is a vaulted ceiling that was a Bazzar for royals to purchase silk, gems etc. It is now used as a tourist bazaar. You are trapped on either side by the touts asking you to buy their goods. I resisted, thanks but no thanks. The arcade leads to the musician performance area where palace visitors would dismount and then walk through to the main courtyard into the Private or Public Audience Hall where the Emperor would hear disputes or have private meetings. We investigated the rest of the fort and walked out about 5pm feeling quite tired and ready to find some dinner. We walked for half an hour but the only place we could find was a India chain food store which we also saw in New Dehli. We paid for our meals at the ticket counter, took our ticket to the food counter and waited delivery of our meals. On the way in we bumped into a young American couple who were searching for a meal, they ordered their meal and joined us at our table. They arrived this morning and were taking the train tonight to Dharamsala in the Indian Himalayas. They decided to leave their well paying jobs and travel the world before settling down and starting their family. Their friends instead bought their homes; then the financial crisis struck and people lost their homes. They managed to escape this plight.

The next day we boarded our bus for the half day tour, we were still tired from the previous day so we looked forward to be driven around and see the sights. The Qutb Minar; Afgan victory monument which was 1000 years old, the Bahai lotus temple of worship 1986 was the only modern structure we saw, this impressive building was made of marble, no photos inside are allowed, the accoustics in this building was striking, birds sang inside reverberating into the high ceiling. The other sight was the Mahatma Ghandi Dehli residence where he was assassinated. Birl Mandir Jain Temple very ornate and beautiful.

We booked our train journey to Agra for the following day.

Impression of Dehli was hectic with Indians with pot of paint in one hand and paint brush in the other, paining over everything that was dirty and shabby (which was most things). No preparation of surfaces and no drop sheets are used. Also somewhat daunting was the strict security of the machine gun wielding police. The huge ditch of water on the dirt road separating our accommodation from the metro; on the third day concrete was poured into this ditch (width of a house); no signs were installed, by evening several cars had driven through this leaving behind huge ruts in the concrete this adding to the run down appearance of the city. The unfortune slum dwelling people living in makeshift huts neatly tucked away behind high purpose built brick walls and the few gardens that are locked up; I'm guessing to stop the homeless from sleeping there. The colourful clothes, the friendly Indians with their eagerness to assist. The fantastic smiles broad and happy. Their love of cricket.

Good bye Dehli, here we come Agra.

All our love to you all, thank you again for your emails, blog and photo comments we do enjoy receiving them. The photos are limited to those on my IPhone at present, we have no end of problems trying to upload our photos but still trying; so when we do don't be surpised that additional photos appear to past blogs. Xxxxxx