Delhi, a spare tyre, and a tour group!

Monday 12th Nov:

Got up at 5.30am after no sleep, walked to the train station which was just up the road and got there at the same time as a girl from hong kong got dropped off, so we sat on the platform together chatting til the train came. Unfortunately we were on different carriages but it was nice to have someone to talk to especially considering the train was late. Was in 2^nd class AC this time, which was like 1^st class AC but with pvc chairs instead of fabric and no free food or drink. 

Because it was delayed before and during the trip, I ended up getting into Delhi an hour late. So got a taxi to the hotel as I was so tired I couldn’t be arsed to barter. It was in Karol Bagh, a better area of Delhi than Paharganj. On the way the taxi driver decided he needed to change his tire, so just stopped in the middle of the roundabout and changed it there and then with me in the car! Eventually found the hotel after the taxi driver asked several different people on the street and toured the same block for about 15mins.

Checked in and then went to meet Laura up in the room, where she was sleeping. Was so strange to see each other in India of all places, but so nice to see a familiar face after getting a bit homesick for Rishikesh. We chatted for ages mainly about Laura’s trip – she missed her connecting flight because the one leaving the UK was late, and when she got to Delhi she thought it was stopping there, like normal planes, except this is India and they have ‘stop-off’ planes that pick up people along the way before going elsewhere and so she almost didn’t get off in time! This sort of thing can only happen to Laura! 

Then we went out in search of something to eat (Laura a Samosa, me a Pakora from a street stall) and to get Laura a sim card. There was a tour meeting at 6pm so we headed back. Met our tour guide early; Yash, really nice and speaks very good English plus is super helpful. The tour meeting went well, was just a quick introduction about the tour, with our tour leader and the first time we all met each other. Got some lovely people on our trip, Ali (UK) and Paul (Ireland), Julie and Julie from Canada, Lucy from Australia, Hayley from UK and a couple of Russian girls, Danish girls (Hanneke and Karen) and german girls (Silvia and some I can't remember!). 

We had to introduce ourselves and say why we wanted to come to India. Most people it seemed are going on to travel elsewhere after, like me and Laura – It’s so nice being able to say that I was doing it too rather than being one of the ones just doing a holiday. We then went out for a meal at a local restaurant and got to know each other a bit more. Then it was off to bed for an early start the next morning for a bit of sightseeing around Old Delhi before our night train.