The beds were really nice to sleep in but we wanted to enjoy the complimentary breakfast buffet so went up around 09. Surprisingly, no unpleasant surprises about the room yet 🙂 Did I say steaming hot showers? Nom-nom.

The agenda for the day was to check out Red Fort and Jama Masjid (their biggest mosque) and explore the bazaars a bit – perhaps some shopping. The streets had a completely different look in the morning and rather than unsafe I’d now describe them as buzzing with chaotic life. Which is a fair description of Delhi as a whole.

The highlight of the day were strolling around the mazes of the bazaars – or not actually bazaars but long winding alleys where people sometimes lived but always had stalls or shops. We found some exquisite doors and a friendly Riksha driver explained that this was the jewellers district and these were doors of the rich jewellers and gave some stories from how they were nine brothers etc. Interesting and lots of photo opportunities.

The Mosque was somewhat of a disappointment, first it was not as grand as the one in Damascus by a long shot and more important they levied fees of 200Rs for “cameras – including mobile cameras” as well as for entering a tower the old 20Rs for Indians, 100Rs for foreigners. I’m happy with tipping, or paying a little extra as a rich tourist – but I’m not paying five times the price. The Red Fort was closed for security reasons (Republic Day something?) but was sure impressive just walking around.

We saw a sign for Tibetan refugees / market place which seemed to be a strange combination and checked it out. It was an accurate description though and I thought this was a good place to donate a pair of pants I no longer used to a family. Despite all the hardships these people must suffer every day they still had smiles on their faces, were polite and tried to keep up their barbers, food stalls, shoe polishing etc and no signs of violence or thefts.

After a long day of walking we concluded with some shopping at Connaught Place for Mona and then took the Metro (convenient but crazy full of people) back to our nice hotel. After 15 minutes or so we heard ridiculously loud Hindi Techno music and saw that someone had used the quiet alley outside our window as a party-location with tents and stuff. According to the reception it was a wedding party, yay. I managed to take a nap despite the noise (old army-skills) before we headed out for a quick dinner.

We had so see the wedding, which turned out to be a party for kids (?) and were invited for dancing and eating. We checked the place out passed the opportunity and ate at Diamond Cafe on Bazaar street. When returning the music still played but stopped around 23 so it was no real trouble falling asleep anyways.

Actually the first note on taxes started last night when we wanted to settle the bill at Kattil (to avoid doing this 0545 with a waiting Riksha) – a surprise 7.5% luxury tax had been neatly added to the bill. Not much money but unfortunately I’m a man of principles and of course had to object to this (no mentioning before and never happened at other places either).

An escalated discussion which came to a smooth end – likely by the convenient arrival of one of the Swedish families who were staying long-term at the same place (and had neither heard about any luxury taxes or been informed). In the end the owner paid his own taxes and we paid the previously agreed price. The train journey to Ernakulam went smoothly (except moving cars twice) though.

In Ernakulam we strolled a bit and had breakfast at Indian Coffee House (great chain – and a cooperative) and paid Kairala, a government-owned handicraft shop mentioned in Lonely Planet with *drumroll* price tags and set prices, a visit A taxi to the airport and an eventless flight later we arrived in Delhi.

Arriving in Delhi I saw that I’d got two missed calls from an unknown number so I decided to call back, and ended up at “Tax authorities and Debt collections” (Skatteverket & Kronofogdsmyndigheten) which didn’t seem pleasant at all. It turned out to be that the tax authorities didn’t simply have my apartment number which they needed since we moved, phew…

With no reservations we thought first to check out some Choice Hotels and see what employee discount Mona could get. However the friendly “we-get-the-best-price” stall at the airport smelled of commission racket. And indeed that seemed to be the case, as were the pre-paid taxi-drivers who had no clue how to get to an hotel (unless it was one were they got a hefty commission). My patience vaned and we asked to be simply dropped off at Connaught Place (most central place) and we would scout Internet access there (since the airport didn’t have of course).

Well at Connaught Place the official (I’m no longer 100% sure but it looks authentic on maps etc at least) tourist information kept up the commission scams but since they offered us internet access it was slightly embarrassing for them when I pointed out I could book their suggested 3-star hotel (a hostel in fact) for less than half of their amazingly-oh-my-god-we’re-ruining-ourselves-discount. We agreed to check out a place which had at least roughly the same prices on hotels.com as their suggestion though.

The place wasn’t bad, but had rock hard beds and were reconstructing their elevator shaft. We how bought some sandwiches and tea and the commission racket guy eventually got tired of waiting for us and left. We used Internet, paid for it with tip and asked for a taxi to a place called Le Roi which seemed to get good reviews and was rather close nearby.

The taxi arrived, and it was a 16-year old guy who must have stolen a cornflake package where he found a driving license. No language skills whatsoever, including stating his price. After he had stopped for the fifth time, reversed through a major crossing (in traffic) we had enough and gave him 50Rs (more than fair) and then he suddenly asked for 200Rs more. In a brief discussion were we described his driving skills and the simple fact he didn’t take us to our destination and he left. We were on the street in a not so safe looking district but at least we wouldn’t get killed in traffic.

Asking our way and showing the address to Le Roi turned out to be easier than expect and when we finally got there the rooms were awesome. The price offered was 3500Rs and and some added taxes, I pointed out I could book online right now the very same place for 3000Rs and got that price straight away – including all taxes. It seems to good to be true to find this gem after a extremely long day of travel where also the worst parts of India have shone through but the place had (a lot of) good reviews.

Time will tell but slightly after midnight we fell asleep, after Mona getting a electric heater sent to the room as complimentary service when we asked if it was possible to raise the temperature of the room just a notch. Despite the length of this post I’ve promised Mona to mention the fact that when I tried to turn off the flatscreen TV I jumped half a meter backwards as it buzzed loudly – it turned out to be the doorbell which had been perfectly timed.

When looking at different options of heading towards Delhi we decided that we’d rather have another day here in Odayam and head early Friday morning towards Ernakulam than leaving at 15 and spending (wasting?) a night in Ernakulam.

We had to move to another hotel though since First Place was out of rooms. After some shopping around we settled for Kattil, just two houses down the road and haggled the price to 1100Rs – in other words we got it slightly cheaper and it was a better room.

The day in general was spent much like the others, however I realized that I hadn’t used my swimming trunks (only shorts) yet so I tried those – guess who got his thighs burned properly in preparation for a long day of travel? When we got back from the beach I also found my earplugs had been considered a feast for ants – I decided to sacrifice them there and then.