27 February 2015

After arriving safely at Delhi Airport, I made my way to the collection point, where a driver was said to be waiting. Another girl, Chanelle from Plymouth, had already arrived so we waited together for the final person due to be collected who turned out to be Krish, from New Zealand but fluent in Hindi.

We were then driven back together on those infamous Indian roads to our accommodation in Gurgaon.

The accommodation is modest and homely, and when we arrived we had a delicious home-cooked meal waiting for us. A welcome treat, which I ate in the traditional way- Pinch, scoop, scoff!

Over lunch, we met two other girls in the hostel. Rosie, from Forest of Dean, and Andy from Norway who will both also be part of this group of volunteers/tourists.

After lunch, we decided to set out and see what the local area had to offer, and what better means of transport for this than cramming into a Tuk Tuk!

We stumbled across a very small, typical Indian market selling a variety of goods.

Mmmm! As appealing as those eels were, I did manage to resist. There was, however, one street food I indulged in that I’ve never seen or heard of before in my life!

Pani Puri!

Served cold, it’s something like a hollow, crispy pastry puff with a hole poked in, stuffed with raw red onion and some kind of potato lentil mix, then dunked in a stock of sorts and eaten whole. Deliciously more-ish! No idea what else is involved, but could definitely taste hints of tamarind and turmeric. I could have stood there all day eating them, but stopped after about 5 for the general hygiene standards and fear of the inevitable Delhi Belly. But this is definitely a recipe I’ll be researching further when I’m home!

After this, we made our way back to the hostel just in time to greet two more and welcome them to the group- Gillian and Raphael, both from Switzerland.

After a few games of Uno and a delicious dinner, we relaxed with a few beers and eventually welcomed the final member to the group- Diana from Brazil.

So all in all, a good mix!

I feel more than ready for a month of exploring what other colours and flavours India has to offer.