Back in India after a gap of nine years, and back in Delhi for the first time in over 20.

One big change is that it now is the proud owner of a snazzy new metro that whisks you from the airport into the heart of the city in just 20 minutes. Beats fighting the traffic and the touts in a taxi. 

Once disgorged into the chaos that exits outside the station, you realise. It much has really changed. Crossing the road is an adventure as traffic comes from every direction, with Red lights just adding to the merriment of life rather than providing any useful function. Not that the pavement is much safer as motor bikes tend to use it as an alternative to the main road.

 Spend the first day exploring the political history of New Delhi. It has been the home to two political assassinations. Visited the house where the Prime minister Indira Gandhi lived and where, in 1984 she was gunned down by her bodyguards. Her fathers house is just up the road and now features a small museum dedicated to the country's first prime minister.

 Just down the road is the Birla House where Mohandas Gandhi met his end in 1948. His last walk is marked out in concrete footprints, from the simple room in which he spend the previous 4 months, to the spot where is met the assassins bullet. The museum is interesting. Not so sure about the scenes of his life acted out by puppets.

 One treat that is only available for one month a year is the Mughal Garden. Part of the presidents compound, the gardens are only open for a short period when the flowers are in bloom. Some amazing displays.