In Delhi, Rolfe and I met up with two lovely Swedish women I had encountered in Cochin, a few weeks back, who were also in town. This, together with the fact that I was travelling with a companion, as well as the reality that nothing dreaded is ever as bad as one expects, led me to be surprised to find Delhi quite exotic and appealing. Pahar Ganj has an amazing concentration of foreign travellers, mostly either arriving in, or leaving India. There are hundred of shops and stalls selling all the nice regional stuff which one didn't buy locally. It's a great place to shop before flying home, and full of hotels and restaurants catering to the budget traveller.

Rolfe and I both enjoyed Karin and Lisa's company enormously: View image, View image, View image.

The main bazaar is hectic and congested, full of cows and beeping horns and swarming rickshaws and stray dogs. Seen from above, it makes an interesting and ever-changing game of chess, but with no structure or rules: View image. View image.

It was time to find Rolfe a motorcycle of his own. We went to Karol Bagh, the Delhi motorcycle ghetto, and searched for a good deal on an Enfield rental for the 2.5 weeks that Rolfe would be here. We found a solid-looking one for just under $100, and agreed to come back once it had been prepared with luggage racks, etc. for travelling. On the way to pick up the bike, Rolfe asked to try my Enfield, to get a feel for the brake and gear pedal being on the wrong sides of the bike. We stopped in a quiet square to let him practice, before being let loose on the streets of Delhi, without training wheels:View image, View image.

We closed the deal, and picked up the bike... At this point, it is necessary to know that Rolfe only learned to ride a motorcycle a few weeks ago, doing a training course in LA, and has never ridden on a public road in his life. His first experience of biking was EXTREME, to say the least: on the mad streets of Delhi... at rush-hour... in the rain! Talk about jumping in the deep end!!! He made it back to the hotel with no incidents.

The next morning, we met the Swedes for breakfast View image, and said our goodbyes. Rolfe said he was already packed, but this is how his room looked when we got back from breakfast: View image. Eventually we got on the two Enfields and headed out on our travels, stopping briefly (and terribly illegally!) to take this photo by the famous Gate of India, before getting chased away by a guard: View image.