Second day

Third night, second proper day, second hotel - Hare Krishna guesthouse - still Paharganj.

I went for a massive walk around Delhi today to acquaint myself with more than Connaught place and to change some traveller's cheques. The acquainting went a lot better than the changing. I walked from north to south Delhi and saw a lot of the tourist sites and lots of crazy Indian sights. For eg, people cycling the wrong way down the road, army men with ak47s sleeping on traffic islands, men fixing walls on scaffolding made of branches and dogs crossing 4 lanes of traffic, why? To get to the other side. I also saw cops pissing in the street and chipmunks raiding bins. However, after my 4 hour meander and first metro ride (cheap at four times the price - 11p for a 3 stop single) when I got to the bank they told me that only Thomas Cook is changing traveller's cheques. Apparently lots of fakes are going round. I really hope Thomas Cook are changing them because otherwise I'm screwed.

I was warned that I may not enjoy Paharganj as it is pretty seedy, however, now that I have acclimatised to the pace I can take the best bits - the street food, the banter, the prices, the location - and overlook the dodgy bits - the constant offers of drugs and the scamming. If I stay here for the whole time I will be high-fiving people as I walk down the street, I'm already seeing the same Indians each day. Maybe I can think up some tourist scams of my own.