Arrived very early morning of Sat 17th Jan. Skulked around in the airport for a couple of hours as it is cheaper to get a taxi to the city centre after 5:00am. So it cost us 250 rupees instead of 310 (there are currently 70 rupees to 1 pound). So we saved less than a pound, oh well every little helps! We took a lovely old black and green ambassador taxi with bench seats. This was great until you are hurtling along the dual carriageway at breakneck speed dodging tuk tuk's, concrete bollards etc, then not so great to be in an old car with no seat belts. Welcome to India!

First impressions of Delhi good, not as dirty as expected, as the streets are cleaned everyday. It is just very dusty and a bit smoggy at times. Everyone has been very friendly, some with alterior motives(more later), but mostly interested in where we have come from. We have had our picture taken with school children and families; I hear Julia Roberts is in Rajasthan, so maybe we have been mistaken for her and her husband!

Around Connaught square it is a bit touristy and full of hustlers. Everyone says they are not trying to sell you anything, just being friendly, then they try to sell you something. The worst scam is the Delhi Tourist Office (DTTDC), it is marked on the map, but along the same road there are many other offices proporting to be the official tourist office, but are just booking agencies for tour companies. We were taken in initially by a 'helpful' guy who lead us to one of these offices. The man inside tried to tell us that we are mad to spend so long in Delhi and that this weekend it is dangerous to stay in Delhi, and we should take one of his 7 day tours of Northern India. He was decidedly unhelpful as to sites to visit within the city. If we had booked the tour the man who guided us would have received a commission. We finally found the real DTTDC, immediatly recognisable as it looked like government offices inside. Now we wizz through Connaught Place saying 'no thank you' to everybody that approaches us.

So far we have visited: Bangla Sahib, Seikh Temple, very impressive. Laxmil Naryan Birla Mandir, Hindu temple, very colourful. National Railway Museum, followed around all day by school children. India Gate, closed off for republic day and many soldiers around. Purana Quila Fortress. Zoo, white bengal tigers. New Delhi Railway Station, mind boggling, we witnessed rats on track, man peeing on track and dog with 10 puppies pooing on track. Qutub Minar, the tallest structure in Delhi built in 13th century. Bahai(lotus) temple. Rajghat, where Ghandi was cremated, quite moving. Humanyun's tomb, thought to be a precursor to the Taj Mahal.

Today we watched the full dress rehearsal for the republic day parade including the Camel Regiment. Their were soldiers and police everywhere that kept moving us on, but eventually we found a place to watch.

We spent one day with Olivia, an English girl staying with her boyfriend who is working here for 4 months, and Mahi a Sikh lad who decided to bunk off of work for the day when he got talking to us.