We flew to Delhi from Kolkata two days before the start of our tour with Intrepid. The taxi from the airport found the hotel but we had to call the hotel to get directions once we got in the vicinity. We dropped our bags in the room and took a short break before we headed out for a walk in the local area. Before we left the hotel we both got a hotel business card with the address and phone number. This is absolutely essential when the city is complex and unfamiliar, the language foreign, and our ability to pronounce the local names clumsy. Usually when venturing out from the hotel, our plan is to find our way back on our own, but if we get lost, tired, or have done serious shopping, we get a rickshaw and have the driver take us back. So far we have found our way back when we needed to, but even the rickshaw driver usually needs to ask for directions along the way. Everyone we have asked has been helpful when we do need directions.
After our first Delhi walkabout, we checked our Lonely Planet guide and set off by rickshaw for the Mugul Mahal Restaurant for dinner. As per warnings, our rickshaw driver suggested an alternate restaurant and took us there to “see” it, one that was more expensive and for which he would receive a commission (baksheesh), but we decided to proceed to the one we initially had chosen. We are always on the lookout for touts, but it is extremely hard to avoid them altogether.
Day three in Delhi we met Gloria and Peter for breakfast in the hotel basement restaurant after being told the rooftop was closed?? (We learned later that others in our tour had eaten on the rooftop, another very Indian occurrence.) We set off for the Red Fort but along the way were told it and the streets around it were closed for a demonstration of some sort. We wanted then to go to the art museum but were told that it was near the Fort and similarly inaccessible. We were dropped off at a ‘museum’ as an alternative that turned out to be a shopping market (2nd kidnapping!) Later we heard conflicting reports as to the validity of the fort being closed that morning….So??? Maybe it was a legitimate diversion and not a kidnapping?
At the hotel we met the rest of our tour members and set off for the initial walking tour which included visiting a Sikh temple, outside the Red Fort, and through a marked close to the fort area. Peter and I were already Metro experts so looked forward to 
the trip that included one train change. But now it was rush hour(s) and the trains were FULL! (But here the subway doors close and were not as full as the commuter trains in Mumbai.)
We all arrived in good shape and had a very informative temple visit including tea and bread with many others in the temple food hall. 
After our first Delhi walkabout, we checked our Lonely Planet guide and set off by rickshaw for the Mugul Mahal Restaurant for dinner. As per warnings, our rickshaw driver suggested an alternate restaurant and took us there to “see” it, one that was more expensive and for which he would receive a commission (baksheesh), but we decided to proceed to the one we initially had chosen. We are always on the lookout for touts, but it is extremely hard to avoid them altogether.
Day two in Delhi, Gloria and Peter joined us at the hotel’s roof top restaurant for breakfast. They are a delightful couple whom we met on another Intrepid tour in eastern Europe in 2007, and visited when we were in Australia in 2008. They decided to join up for this trip when we let them know that we were booking it last year. We also encountered another tour member,George from England. The five of us decided to hire a jeep for the day and have the driver take us to several sites around Delhi, as suggested in George’s DK guidebook.
We visited: Shri Lashmi Narain Birla Mandir, Reshtrapati Bhauan, Safdarjung’s Tomb, India Gate, and Humayun’s Tomb. Several involved beautifully carved old stone buildings in various states of repair, as old as 500 years right up to as recent as the early 20th century (India Gate). Alison and I were surprised by several of the wide tree lined boulevards with very light traffic after Kolkata’s constant heavy traffic and frequent grid lock.
At lunch time we were ‘kidnapped’ by the driver. Instead of continuing towards our next site, we ended up retracing to his suggested lunch location (again expensive, slow and
more food than any of us wanted) and got caught in gridlock and wasted over one hour. Caught again. However, it all ended well. At the end of the day, the driver dropped us off at Parikramn
Restaurant and we went up to the 24th floor and had drinks while we twirled around in the rotating restaurant as the sun set and darkness fell. From there we walked to Sagar Ratna for dinner and had a great south Indian meal for ¼ the cost of our drinks while rotating. Overall a very successful sightseeing day in India 
more food than any of us wanted) and got caught in gridlock and wasted over one hour. Caught again. However, it all ended well. At the end of the day, the driver dropped us off at Parikramn
Since we had sent our driver on his way, we hailed a rickshaw and the five of us returned
to the hotel. Normally westerners travel 3 to a rickshaw, so five is a full rickshaw by our standards, but nothing like the ten or so locals we sometimes see piled into the tiny vehicles.
After we walked around Connaught Circle and the central city park, Peter and I returned to our hotel via Metro for 6 rupees and had a fun time in relatively empty cars while Gloria and Alison shopped at FabIndia and rickshawed back.
the trip that included one train change. But now it was rush hour(s) and the trains were FULL! (But here the subway doors close and were not as full as the commuter trains in Mumbai.)
After the temple Suresh, our tour leader, took some of the group to the spice market while we and others wandered the main market and returned via Metro to our hotel. We regrouped for dinner in a nearby restaurant and left Delhi the next morning via train to Agra at 6:30 AM. We anticipate lots of early mornings on this trip!
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