In our wisdom we decided to visit one of the oldest cities in the world during summer. With 40 degree scorchers and being fully covered to keep with the dress code of India (also with the benefit of keeping out the malaria biting insects) we had a steep acclimatisation from the cool Jeju climate we left behind.

Tourism in Delhi had a revamp in preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth games, and has many interesting historical sites, including three world heritage sites (Red Fort, Humayun's Tomb and the Qutab Complex). If you were a highly driven and motivated tourist you could see these three sites in one day. After almost 3 months of travelling we've already changed our tourist style to the following routine: starting the day with a leisurely breakfast, visiting one of the tourist sites, hunting out some delicious spot for lunch, searching for a shady patch in a park somewhere and reading while digesting, maybe even stopping at an Indian movie theatre to watch Ironman 3... By foregoing the comforts and convenience of the air conditioned tourist coaches we were able to roam Delhi on foot, on the metro and slalom through peak hour traffic at the mercy of some crazy auto rickshaw drivers. Doing all of this in 40 degree temperatures was a key contributor to our newly developed 10 litre a day water habit.

While exploring the beautiful gardens with stunning buildings and dragging our feet through the hot sun Alana coined the following two sayings:

1) "This is like an Indian Pemberley": First used at the Red Fort to describe the beautiful grounds and repeated numerous times over the following days. Currently a non-sarcastic remark - we shall see how this develops with overuse.

2) "That's a sweaty write-off": Used when the decision to walk some distance is overruled due to the temperature.

While visiting the Qutab Complex, a friendly security guard politely offered to take a photo of us. The one photo turned into many as we were reluctantly coerced into following him to different locations around the Complex. We quickly realised that the security guard was moonlighting as a photographer and searching for a heavy tip. More fool him, he should have chosen non-backpackers to take photos of! After this episode we were asked more than once by other security guards if we'd like our photos taken, which we forcefully declined.

Food is fantastic from delectable dahl and roti fresh from the griddle and neither of us has had the delight to experience Delhi Belly as yet.

On our first days walking through the streets Alana was slighty nervous as to what we would experience after all the bad media. However as we moved around Delhi she gradually relaxed getting use to the usual touts and beggars and realised that people here were just going about their normal lives like any other place.