Thursday 13 February

Shimla – Delhi

We’re both still feeling a bit rough with our coughs and colds, but we needed to be up early, packed and eaten breakfast in time for our driver to take us to Chandargar at 8:30 from where we took a fast train to New Delhi. 

The drive down to Chandigarh was even more spectacular than the train ride up to Shimla – fantastic views of mountains, hills, valleys and passing through small towns and villages.

We arrived in Chandigarh with plenty of time to board the train. We’d been slightly worried that the driver’s fee plus tolls and taxes might use up all our rupees cash reserves, but he charged less than we expected: ₹5500 – so we were fine. 

Delhi has an estimated population of over 28 million – that’s mind-boggling- almost half the entire UK population in one place! The main New Delhi railway station seemed like most of the population in the city were there!

We found our way to the metro and bought a three ticket to allow us to explore the city. The metro is really good and we were at our hotel, the Ambassador, near Khan Square by late afternoon.

The Ambassador hotel was apparently where military officers lodged during British rule; it’s a lovely art deco building with curved balconies, white walls and big windows.

Beside the hotel there’s a lovely garden centre – the first we’ve been able to see in India. Matthew thought that it was a bit old fashioned, but I thought that it was charming.

Matthew had made an appointment with a tailor in Khan Market called Grover’s, with a view to having a jacket and/or a shirt made. He was starting to worry that it might cost a lot, but I thought it’s bound to be less than in the UK and how often do we have anything made to measure? (Never, ever obviously!). 

So Matthew was measured for a linen blazer – was fun choosing fabric and lining … he made up his mind quite quickly, it would have taken me ages. 

There was a plantbased restaurant in the market too – Green Mantis – another win! 

We were pretty tired – I think we’re both a bit run down – we were tucked up in bed by 9.