Delhi is this melting pot where the city never sleeps. The busyness is infectious and we were desperate to get out into the hive of activity so we hired a taxi driver for a whole day to show us the sights and smells of the place.Complete with curry flavoured crisps for our long journey.

Most of the day was spent nudging each other ‘Oh my god did you see that?’ mouths agape and fingers pointing out the window at everything full of colour and life mixed with extreme poverty and sobering struggles. It reminded me of looking at ants scuttling on the ground each with a purpose and each working towards something. It sounds clichéd to say but this place definitely had a pulse that was pounding non-stop.

We visited beautiful Indian temples with pristine fountains, colourful flower gardens full of families having a picnic or playing cricket in the sun.

At the Indian gate we were followed around by ladies wanting to sell us handmade bracelets or grabbing our hands to start drawing intricate henna patterns. You soon get used to politely but firmly saying no, forget all those self-help books to improve your confidence and assertiveness what you need to do is get yourself here! There was this group of women in the most embellished stunning saris and pristine makeup having a photo taken in front of the gate; to be honest they were getting more attention than the huge imposing structure behind them.

My favourite place we went to was called Jantar Mantar, it is an observatory site where they used huge red brick structures as sundials and to place solar and lunar movement’s way before computers and electric devices were created. We posed for photos and just watched the world go by as teenagers and couples did exactly the same.

I was so happy to have Rach with me and the day went by in fits of giggles and raving to each other about the overwhelming sights and sounds we had experienced in just this one day. We had a great dinner in this small restaurant where a sitar player strummed away as we stuffed ourselves silly on Indian delicacies trying to play the guessing game of what we were eating!

The next day Rach was off on her tour that she had booked months ago and I was excited at going to the Taj Mahal albeit slightly terrified at doing this on my own! However our lovely taxi driver who spoke great English and had acted as a fab tour guide all day said he would take me there at 5am the following morning. The only worry was that at the end of the night he was complaining about feeling ill as he had kidney stones! We felt awful that we had him drive us around all day and didn’t mention that he was in pain, as well as feeling sorry for him and giving him a huge tip I was crossing my fingers that he would be well enough to take me the next day!