Arrival in Delhi

Besos, chicos. I am currently in Jaipur, having rolled into the town mid-morning. So far, India has struck me as being surprising hot and very friendly. I am acclimatising to both.

The exit from Heathrow was pretty dire. I managed to fly on the busiest day of the year, and so the airport was pandemonium. Which meant I was late for my flight (I had to run to the gate and all thoughts of duty free flew out the window). The plane was then -- of course -- late owing to a missed take-off slot. But the flight itself was pleasant enough, and I got to see my first Hindi(ish - since part of it was set in London) film: Namaste London. I thoroughly enjoyed it: alpha male wins over difficult female. Easy on the eye and ear. (Except for the chap in the front row, who kept blocking the subtitles: grwww.)

I arrived in Delhi early on Monday morning, which was slightly disorientating having had only two hours sleep and my body clock thinking it was around 2am. Nevertheless formalites at the airport were remarkably painless: I was ushered through immigration (I was the first in the queue); changed money; bought Jackie her present (which I failed to do in Heathrow: isn't that the ultimate of crapness, to buy your hostess your arrival gift at the airport in her country of residence); picked up my rucksack (one of the first on the carousel); and was collected by Jackie's driver and deposited at Jackie's flat, all by 9am. (Jackie is a friend from university who is now writing for the Wall Street Journal here in Delhi. She gave me the run of her place while she was at work and has been the most generous and sensitive of hostesses.)

And then I hit the tourist spots in old Delhi. Arriving on a Monday wasn't ideal, as it meant many of the sights were shut. But I visited Jama Masjid (India's largest mosque); bought a mattress in the bazaar (which turned out to be sodden; euch); and Humayun's Tomb. But I wasn't really hassled by hawkers anywhere. In fact, no one paid me much attention at all; so, so far, so easy. Yesterday was pretty much the same: a visit to the Red Fort; and Qutb Minar: both of which were spectacular.

Something I have noticed is that India is very civilised: ladies have their own separate queues, which mostly means you get things much qucker than your male counterparts (for instance, the queue at the Red Fort was about an hour long, and I was escorted straight to the front). Result!

The only major pain so far came when I tried to withdraw cash and discovered my bank had blocked my card. I mean, how helpful is that? You are in the middle of India and for no apparent reason you cannot access your account, although it was sorted after a couple of heated phone calls. So all's well that ends well.

Last night I was invited to drinks at the Foreign Correspondents' Club, which was lovely. Midway through the news came about Rupert Murdoch's successful bid for Dow Jones -- owners of the Wall Street Journal -- which triggered much discussion. But we couldn't stay out too late. I had booked a ticket on the 4.30am train to Jaipur... This meant getting up at just before 3am to grab a cab to Old Dehli station. I arrived at 3.15am.

I would not recommend anyone to hang out in Old Delhi station in the early hours. As I drove up past the red wall of the Fort, all the tuk tuk drivers lay basking on their machines, getting a night's kip: there were hundreds of them lining the roads. At the station itself, there were further hoards: a mass of bodies passed out on the floor of the main concours, under the very bright lights, with the tannoy noisely shouting departures. I caught sight of a couple of back packs and so followed suit: two (unfriendly) German girls going to Jaipur too. I was pretty dogged so they couldn't shake me off till the train had arrived!!!

I hadn't anticipated that it was a sleeper (a bit dozy of me, admittedly). The smell was incredible: the rank, cloying stink of many hot and dirty bodies too close together. Boarding, I was reminded of a bizarre take on the train scene in Some Like it Hot. The left hand side of the corridor, which ran the length of each carriage, was lined with bunks (one up, one down) each of them enclosed by a curtain where people were already sleeping in the dark; on the right hand side it was more akin to compartments (shielded by curtains instead of doors) with bunks on either side within. (I kept waiting for Jack Lemon to maybe fall out of a bunk from the left.)

Because all the bunks and compartments were closed, it was impossible to find numbers, and I wasn't really sure what I was looking for! Needless to say, after a bit of a poke around, I found my bed: I was in a compartment bit (upper berth) which slept four. The major problem was that there was already somebody already fast asleep there...

He was remarkably polite when I woke him and asked him to move. Which he did: to the berth below...

I pretty soon dozed off and woke up in the morning in Jaipur. Found my hotel and here I am now. ;)

That's all I have to report so far. Let me know how you all are. Much love