Final destination, the capital of India, with strong Muslim influence from its Mughal past. As always, cities are at their most unwelcoming when arriving in the morning on a slow sweaty night train. We passed miles and miles of shanty town at the exact moment before breakfast when India goes for a poo. The smell and these rows of naked bums were well too much after a bad night sleep...

As with Bombay and Chennai, the huge shanty towns sprawl around the city and disappear when you arrive in the centre. We found Delhi a paradoxical city: rich/poor, congestions/calm, the classic stories of capitals. Groomed lawns and well tended houses around the smart districts were a usual sight, as was the overtly British architecture such as the commercial district of Connaught Place. The Muslim market and the maze of Old Delhi where huge crowds coexist in rundown buildings. Cycle rickshaws everywhere (but banned from the financial quarters), an old bull pulling a cart in front of a designer name shop.

We stayed in the Paharganj district where most travellers stay, lovely mix of working class locals, high speed internet cafes and colour TV in the hotel room. Sitting along chai stalls, we saw the biggest number ever of westerners, some so obviously freshly arrived that our 6 months experience made us grin at their sight. We saw street kids sniffing glue, beautiful women with this Capital touch of daring to be different, the best rickshaw drivers, skyscrapers with revolving restaurants, business men speaking only in english, an impressive hippopotamus in the zoo.

By that time, we were filled with apprehension and excitement at the idea of returning back to England, and as the temperature went higher and higher during this last week in Delhi (up to 42 degrees, end of April, when the Monsoon is building up), we lived it in a kind of haze. People slept on their rooftop at night to find a bit of fresh air, and rumours went around of a monkey-man attacking sleepers all over the city. Intense heat create intense paranoia, the newspapers said. We were off! We would love to come back, this time to stay in one place (buying a camel in Pushkar's fair, exploring the extreme north or staying in an ashram for a long while...)

India, we love and hate you - but will love you more and more in our memory :-)