Nic here again! Well, another hectic day! It is soooo tiring being in this city. We finally managed to find the 'real' official delhi tourism place - not the 'official tourism of delhi', or the'delhi official tourism' or indeed the 'delhi official government supported tourism office' (all tout shops). Phew! Once there we went to a recommended travel agents - which was still just a little room on a rickety street - but he did get us a cup of tea (chai), after he sent his little helper out on to the streets with a kettle to get water. We spent a few hours deciding on what to do with our time and getting prices for everything. Because we're western eveyone is obviously desperate for our money and keep telling us that all the hotels are booked - but surprisingly they can manage to get us one. Anyway, after much deliberation, over lunch in the Host Inn (very nice and only costing about 5 quid) we decided to hire a driver - as we've realized it's just impossible to see anything trying to do it on your own. So, we have a Mr Sharma driving us at the minute. He took us round many of the sites of Delhi, and passed through Old Delhi. Was a crazy crazy place that is. There are simply no rules on the roads, and it is unbelievably busy. I have no idea how nobody dies but it seems to work, we only had two little bumps in the car today. Tomorrow morning we will leave Delhi (can't say I'm too upset about that to be fair!) and Mr Sharma will pick us up and drive us to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. After a night there, then we head to Jaipur. From there we've phoned and booked 3 nights here at a hotel in the suburbs, and we may travel a bit via coach and train to Jodhpur and Pushkar etc - but we'll see. Then finally we've booked a flight from Jaipur to Mumbai on 19th Nov. We'll just have to cross our fingers and pray that it works out. One thing we've noticed is that nothing is explained to you here unless you ask. They don't offer advice freely. But if we ever want to do anything, and indeed leave Delhi, then we're going to have to put our trust in someone, so Mr Sharma it is! Now over to Andi, for the history bits!!!

baton passed on to Andi... I was expecting fading colonial splendour and instead we've found Hiroshima 1 month after the war finsihed! its not that bad, but it certainly takes getting used to. We're heading off tomorrow but I'm sure life would get easier if we stayed longer. we've worked out the lies to tell the touts ("leaving tomorrow" and "booked it already" work really well) and once they leave you alone you can start to appreciate the place.

Stuck next to the appalling poverty that no one other than tourists notice, is some great places. we checked out Ghandi's burial place, at raj ghat (which is more like a park than a ghat as the river is miles away), looked at Humayun tomb, which is believed to be the inspiration for the Taj Mahal before going to India Gate and the Presidents house. India gate looks suspiciously like Arc du Triumph in Paris and strangely is for the same thing - tomb of the unknown soldier. Looking back, all we did was visit dead people. we should have saved the cash and gone to Morecambe for the weekend. Missed out on the two "must sees" of delhi, jama masjid mosque and red fort due to the unimaginable traffic that runs around the old town. If we would have walked the distance on our hands, backwards, holding our breath and clapping, we would have got there quicker. Sadly, we also missed out on the sulabh international toilet museum, because the driver had never herd of it! We finished off in Laxmi Temple. It's very impressive and chilled out, but every time we leave our shoes at the door we're half expecting some street kid to have run off with them!

So now we're chilling in the hotel, probably enjoying the last night of comfort before heading off in to the unknown. We're taking photos, but have no idea how to upload them here at the minute, so we may need to wait a while before doing that. Only problem is - the memory is running out. Doh!