Tewkesbury to Delhi

Said goodbye to Mum and Dad at Cheltenham train station at 8:30am. Changed at Reading, but then train terminated a few stops before Gatwick due to 'slippery tracks',  so had to change at Redhill.

Arrived at Istanbul. To cut a long story short, it made life easier that my Turkish multiple entry visa is still valid; got stamped in. Collected my bag and then headed for departures. The passport control guy looked at the entry stamp for a while, shook his head and stamped me back out of Turkey.

On the departures board, the flight to Sharjah said delayed by 30 minutes, but when i checked in they said they were going to leave an hour earlier, otherwise the fog would ground us and we would have to wait 8 hours. At the boarding gate nothing happened for a while. But then they said all flights are grounded and we will have to go to the other airport. They made us all put our passports in a shopping basket so they can get our stamps cancelled!  Of course, once they were stamped, it took alot longer to hand back 200 passports one-by-one.

Then they herded us out into the fog and onto coaches and we screamed across Istanbul at 1:30am to Ataturk Airport, so I got to see some familiar sights (well apart from the dark and the fog).

We evenutally took off at 4am instead of 1am so obviously I was going to miss my connection from Sharjah to Delhi. In Sharjah, UAE, the airline's transit desk gave the five of us a voucher to take downstairs to the Transit hotel, but they had no rooms left, so after a bit of waiting around they gave us a lunch voucher while they sorted something else out. The something else was sending us to a hotel near the airport. Everybody needs a visa for the UAE but this is straightforward for UK citizens so I got rushed to the front of the long queue and led down outside, still in my fleece, in the 30 degrees heat, to a taxi which brought me to the 3/4 star hotel.

I thought about heading into the city but fell asleep while thinking about it. Got up at 8pm for dinner which they brought to my room. The other guys weren't around and I didnt have any local currency and it would have been a taxi trip and basically I couldn't be bothered!

Sunday 7th November

Got a 4am wake up call even though the taxi wasn't coming until 5am. 5 minutes in the taxi back to the airport. Security checks again, which has become a bit tiresome over the last few days. Nobody stopped me carrying a bottle of water. The airline gave us a breakfast voucher and we got bread and cheese, a piece of cake, orange juice and coffee. More coffee on the plane and a nap, so when we arrived in Delhi i was a bit wired. 5 of us got pre-paid taxi to the main bazaar, near New Delhi Train Station. The turkish guys went their own way and Manuel and Ivana found hotels. I have a good room with en-suite and football. Had a good walk around. It was pretty calm around here, no beggars or big crowds, just the odd guy trying to start up a conversation that would probably lead to no good. Found the Tourists Train Ticket Office, closed until tomorrow. Thali for lunch, no delhi belly so far. Great to watch 2 footy games in my room........

Monday 8th November

..........but today i swapped hotels to one round the corner, as it is 200 rupees (about $5) instead of 350 rupees (about $8) per night. But you get what you pay for; no TV, showers don't seem to work and they suggested i had a bucket shower, and the bed is pretty hard.

Went to the Tourist train ticket office and wished I had got up earlier as there was a long queue. So i sat among lots of other white people, some of whom were dressed as hippies. I got tickets for my first two train journeys and it was cheaper than i expected.

Met up with Manuel and Ivana and we walked to Connaught Place, vegie spring roll for lunch. Then we took the crowded metro to Old Delhi; busier there than here. We walked to the Red Fort, which i visited 15 years ago, and just had a look at the outside (its shut Mondays anyway).

We then headed toward Humayus Tomb (where Obama was yesterday) but underestimated the distance. We passed through Shanti Vana park, and stumbled across Raj Ghat, where there is a square platform with flowers and a flame to mark the spot where Ghandi was cremated.

After a bit more walking the others heading back and I headed towards India Gate. I thought i was lost but it was just a long way. I stopped on the way for a samosa which i thought i would eat as I walked. But they put it on a metal plate, cut it up a little, poured two types of sauce on it, put some raw onion on it and gave to me with a spoon. So I ate it next to the stall while some locals were eating bigger meals. It was spicy and delicious. Eventually came across India Gate, which looks like the Arc De Triomphe and is a memorial to soldiers lost in World War I, including Gallipoli. It looked good in the late afternoon sun, there were lots of locals around. I walked up to Connaught Square, then got a bit lost and it was getting dark so got a cycle rickshaw back to the train station and the hostel.