Having been separated from the rest of the group at check in at London Heathrow I was slightly miffed until I discovered I had been given a seat just beside first class with ample legroom for the long flight and my neighbour in the seat beside me was an Indian lady from Delhi living in Southall, London who was happy to chat about her home town and the flight passed quickly.
The first thing you notice as you are on final approach to Indira Gandhi Airport New Delhi is the smog not as bad as London in the 50's but definitely that it is laden with pollution. The air hostess tried to convince us it was because of the fireworks let off the night before to celebrate Diwali but it turned out to be a fairy story.
Very little trouble was experienced with passport control although David & Jean took a while to get through with their e-visas but eventually we met up with our drivers and were whisked away to our Guest house for the time we would stay in Delhi The Prem Sugar Guest House.
Centrally located in Connaught Circus with access to all the sites of Delhi the guest house turned out to be a bit more expensive than accommodation in India but the friendliness of the staff, comfortable beds, hot water in the showers and cold air conditioning made up for it.
A visit to a local bar and a few Kingfisher beers later I headed for bed early for a good sleep in readiness of the next day's outings.
