The long haul flight to Delhi was lumpy at times due to monsoon weather and sitting in the same place for 13 hours is never fun, however, Singapore Airlines service was impeccable.

Tired on arrival we were greeted at the airport by our tour operator staff and we were soon out of Delhi airport and into our hotel. We enjoyed a fantastic breakfast, a large variety of dishes to choose from including many tasty traditional spicy and sweet foods. We met some of our traveling companions, which included a Kiwi and two English travelers.

As we were into Delhi so early and had the whole day to ourselves we ventured into city centre via the metro, what a fantastic train network, very cheap, clean, no graffiti and efficient. People on the train were polite and kind, more the norm that younger people would offer up their seats so we, the more chronologically gifted could sit down. The service was well utilized but we wouldn’t describe it as overcrowded. Whenever we struck navigational troubles Indian people went out of their way to help us.

We took the train to the Janpath Markets, there was plenty of good valued items to buy and negotiating a price is expected in some stalls while others advertised ‘fixed prices’. Wherever we went people were friendly and ready for a chat, always curious to know where we came from.

From the train you could see many temples as there are many deities and as you are looking down into and across this huge city you realize India doesn’t hide it’s good or its blemishes.

Delhi is a city of strong contrasts, it seems to be in a perpetual state of renewal but protects the old and spiritual. It is clear India is constantly improving many aspects of life and embracing and striving to lead in new technologies.

The civil logistics must be enormous. We found the power line wiring configuration interesting. The city is heavily timbered as there a big trees everywhere, some are figs, some are exotics and some we are yet to identify. We have seen interesting birds such as Black-winged Stilt, Himantopushimantopus, Jungle Babbler, Argya striata, House Crow, Corvus splendens and possibly the Ashy Prinia, Prinia socialis. Black Kites, Milvus migrans govinda are
constantly soaring over head and Indian Miners are common. Dogs are also common all seem quite healthy and we also found squirrels building a home.

There is plenty of smog at present, the result of weather, temperature inversion, Delhi is land locked topographically and the farmers burning off stubble, then add plenty of traffic. Delhi’s pollution levels can be monitored via,https://aqicn.org/city/delhi/

The traffic is a sight to hear and see. It is a well choreographed show involving huge volumes of varied vehicles moving in all directions constantly using their horns and never seeming to collide.

Our night finishes with sharing a wonderful and delicious dinner with our traveling companions.

We are here in the wedding season. In India, “wedding season” refers to the periods of the year when most weddings take place, driven by weather and the Hindu astrological muhurat (auspicious dates). There is a wedding ceremony in progress in our hotel and the bridal guests look so good in their traditional Indian attire, we are told it is possible that we will get invited to one of these as it’s common practice to invite strangers in, just another example of how warm and friendly Indian people are.