Arrived in New Delhi

2^nd February 2018 – Arrived in New Delhi

We had an uneventful flight from Heathrow with Jet Air – always the best type of journey.  We did have to circle a while due to fog but the reality is smog as it was difficult to see the airport building from the plane as we taxied in as the air is so polluted.

Black kites - one of the most common birds in India

Getting through immigration was a bit of pain as we queued up as instructed only to discover that we should have filled in a secret form that we were unaware of.  So, we had to trek off to find the form and fill in the exact same stuff we’d already done for the visa except we didn’t have the hotel details with us.  I managed to dig deep and conjure up the hotel name and we just made up a phone number which seemed to do the trick.  Chris had his finger prints taken, Mum was not asked for hers and he gave up on mine as I have a deformed little finger due to snapping a tendon in it a few years ago so it refuses to sit flat on the finger printing machine.  After that, we just collected our bags and met up with the guy and driver who were transferring us to the hotel.

The guy in charge of the transfer didn’t endear himself to me as I expected him to take over pushing the luggage trolley and all he did was to give me instructions on how to take it steady up and down the slopes!!  At this point, I suggested he take over which he duly did.

Once our car was loaded up we ventured out into a humongous traffic jam and slowly crept into Delhi.  Lane markings are only guidelines and we noticed 6 lines of traffic squeezed into 4 marked lanes.  No wonder a lot of the cars have dings.  It took us about an hour to drive 20 kilometres.  Apparently, we are in a posh suburb where the houses cost a lot of money.  Our little boutique hotel is lovely and we had a warm greeting from the staff on the front desk who offered us a reviving cup of tea in our rooms.  The transfer guy hung around for a tip but on top of letting me push the trolley cart he also belched quite loudly several times during the journey and as I was sitting just in front of him, I got the full effect, so decided no tip would be forthcoming.

Black Kite on nest

Chris and I have been upgraded to a junior suite which has a lovely private terrace.  We are sitting out here now having freshened up and are enjoying the cacophony of bird song intermingled with the faint hooting of car horns, incoming planes and the rumble of the occasional train.  In just a short time we have seen chipmunks and quite a few birds and there are even black kites nesting in the big tree by our room.  I keep seeing tantalising emerald glimpses of birds as they hop inside the thick vegetation – come on out, I silently plea, but it seems to be falling on deaf ears.  I guess patience is a virtue and I just need to sit out here for longer with my camera at the ready......

Red whiskered Bulbuls

I have been told by our local agents to be ready downstairs for 6pm as a driver will be picking us up and taking us to ....somewhere, but I didn’t catch the name....I’m assuming it’s a place for dinner?! Time will tell.

Redvented bulbuls

Indeed it was a place to eat and what a place.  We went to the Indian Accent, the top restaurant in India, and the only restaurant in India to feature in the World’s 50 best restaurants 2017.  It was an incredible experience and Chris and I agreed probably one of the best meals we’d ever eaten out in our lives.  We started with pre prandial drinks overlooking some pools with gas burners in them.  After half an hour or so we were escorted to our table and presented with the A La Carte and tasting menus.  We all opted for the A La Carte and let the helpful and very knowledgeable waiter make his suggestions which we largely followed.  We started off with bite sized blue cheese stuffed naan breads and then had an amuse bouche of carrot and fennel soup with garam massala.  We shared starters of soft shelled crab, pork ribs and morelle mushrooms with parmesan crisps all modern Indian style and just to die for.  We then had a palette cleanser – some sort of iced lolly – followed by a south Indian minced chicken keema, crab with beans and a coconut curry sauce (star of the show) and a pork belly tikka with beans which was deliciously spicy.  We were also given daal and persuaded to have a mushroom stuffed bread to soak it up.  We were too full for desserts but the most amazing creation appeared (on the house) floating on a bowl of dry ice – it was so light – just the most amazing saffron flavoured air with nuts in it – I wondered if it was Italian meringue?  We then told them we wanted the bill, but one more course appeared – air dried mango, tamarind balls in icing sugar, pomegranate seeds dusted with cumin and icing sugar and the most amazing rose petal nougatine.

Roseringed parakeet

We wobbled out some 2.5 hours after we arrived and enjoyed another hectic hooty drive home.  It’s fascinating getting tiny glimpses of life from the car window – street vendors, intriguing looking stores, people everywhere, and people selling you anything from peacock feathers, steering wheel covers, popcorn and bunches of roses whenever you car comes to halt in a traffic jam....which is pretty often.  Can’t wait to see more tomorrow.

 

A cheeky chipmunk