New Delhi- Dodging scams and spicy drinks

Day 1;
Once we arrived at the airport at 5 am we thought we had a pretty fool proof plan of how to get to our hostel in New Delhi however, the people had another plan for us. After getting on the airport express to new Delhi railway station, we arrived at a place so different to what we had walked out to at the airport. Tuk Tuks swarmed the cities streets where having a side of the road was definitely not a restriction to which the people of India had to live by.

After talking to one person we headed for the other side of the railway station which we had been told our hostel was situated by. We soon realised he was attempting to send us into another railway station to which we were obviously stopped as we didn't have a ticket, the man that stopped us soon started explaining how we needed a 'permission permit' to enter the area our hotel was in. We had been warned about scams like this from our hotel, thankfully, so we were pretty vigilant. After being hassled continuously we gave in and got into a taxi which took us to a 'tourist information' centre, they then offered to call our hotel for us, however, knowing of the scam me and Alex declined this offer and called the Hotel ourselves.

They quickly informed us that the pass they were attempting to sell us/ give us was not needed and that this was, as we had thought, one of the scams. So after being scammed once we got into a Tuk Tuk and this seemed to be going right as we checked our maps to ensure he was heading the correct way, he was. Although obviously too good to be true, once he bumped into this guy on the road he again was going on about a pass, We informed the Tuk Tuk driver that no we had already called the hotel and they had told us this is false information. He then drove us to two different tourist centres.

​By this point after travelling for almost 24 hours we had enough, we got out the Tuk Tuk and ordered ourselves an Uber. The Uber was reliable and a heads up for any one considering travelling to Delhi make sure you have your hotels number on your phone for emergency use or threaten the Tuk Tuk drivers or taxi drivers that you are prepared to call the police if they do not take you to your hotel. (or as we did.,.. Get an Uber).

​After finally arriving at our hostel, we found a lovely spacious lobby that had information books, board games and most importantly fans/ air conditioning. Arriving around 9 am ish we couldn't check in till 10:30 so we stored our bags away and just chilled out after the incredibly hectic morning we had all together. We met this lovely man who we talked and laughed with and told us about his dislike for Delhi due to the massive amount of pollution and corruption that took place within this city. 

We had definitely found this to be the case so far but he had high hopes for the rest of the trip. Once we had checked into our hotel we went for lunch with the same man we had previously been talking to. He took us to The Biryani Paradise. Here the food was incredible. We ordered a Mutton Biryani which was basically lamb and rice with the sauce. This was such a large portion that it fed all three of us and only cost around £6, which coming from London is a major shock. With this, we had a Garlic Naan which came out very crispy which made it more flavoursome. Alex was also talked into trying a 'Masala Coke' The first sip of it almost made him spit it out and even the small amount I had of it nearly brought on gagging. This drink was Coca-cola mixed with a spoon full of the spice Masala. (He changed for a different drink straight away). 

After this, we headed back to the hotel, in another Tuk Tuk which cost around 50p to get from our hotel to the restaurant. We said goodbye to the friend we had made as he continued on to his home further north near the mountains and head to our room for a shower and to relax after hearing only Tuk Tuk and car horns for the majority of the day. When we felt we had relaxed a bit more we decided to head for a walk down the street to find a place to have dinner... As our chilled out time had lasted a lot longer than we had thought it would. 

Dinner was in this Hotel/ Restaurant along the same strip to which our hotel was on, we chose it due to the fact that there were multiple other westerners inside. This put at ease our fears of contracting the Delhi belly as due to our tour happening in a couple of days we couldn't be sick before we even started it. The food again was pretty amazing, Alex got a chicken pasta in a white sauce and I had a chicken noodle dish that was on par with sweet and sour chicken back home and of course the side of the Garlic Naan. After we had finished the waiter brought over complimentary teas, these weren't anything like Yorkshire tea bags back home but instead consisted of sweet flavours with a minty taste almost comparing to a Chai tea. With this, we were brought  Mukhwas with consists of fennel seeds. This after- meal snack is used as a digestive aid and also a mouth freshener. 

With the first day coming to an end we decided to get an early night so that we could handle the madness a bit better tomorrow morning than we had done that morning.