The seething, heaving mass of people called Delhi is that capital of this hugely cosmopolitan land. Here about 15million people call home. Home could be a patch of pavement you find yourself on at day's end. Or it could be a mansion of extraordinary extravagance where your every care is taken care of. Every manner of housing is here from plastic sheet hovels and tin sided shanties to brand new sky reaching apartment blocks for India's nouveau rich is catered for. Delhi is a place that is riding the wave of increased investor confidence! Tucked away amongst the old is the new. Adidas and Nike and Subways and McDonalds sit next to old food and clothes stores that have no brand. The juxtaposition is extraordinary.

But there is little time for reflection here and time is money! We had lunch with a friend of a friend and we got talking about the recent spate of bombings in Delhi. One of the bombs actually exploded not far from office and travel agency. In the aftermath of the bomb, the traffic came to a standstill and things seemed to stop. But half an hour later, life just carried on as if nothing happened! Life goes with a small shoulder shrug…..

Perhaps we are becoming travel snobs, or perhaps we have seen so many great things already, or perhaps we can read between the lines of travel info better, but whatever it is, there seemed little attraction in Delhi; and no matter how insignificant the risk, a bomb is likely to hit Delhi sometime soon (India is in the throes of an attack from a group called the Indian Mujahedeen)….it was time to go.

Arriving in Delhi, a short walk to our spot for the night, out to have lunch with Nazir and Rajue, then a drink at the old Imperial with Alex and Laetitia, friends from the road and supper at a Nepalese spot tucked just off the main bazaar and down a little alley just about sums up our Delhi experience.

Did we see it all? No. But we certainly don't feel that we have missed out at all, not when you spend time with friends. Besides which, the pollution is so bad that it seems as if the sun sets a lot earlier than anywhere else because it is so dense. The humidity and heat don't help nor does the river of sweat down your back.

Who would stay here when the snow covered mountains of the Himalayas are calling?