Delhi, Tuesday

1042 Just got up. Bit shit but could be worse. Woke up by myself about 730 feeling not too bad. Went back to sleep. Snoozed on alarms since about 930. Having some bourbon biscuits (since I don't want to assume I can find anywhere to eat) then will try to get my stuff together to head out.

1133 OK, finally heading out.

1443 At India Gate. Tout shit this morning, sigh. Got to national museum, went in tho bit hacked off. Now walked over here with only moderate toutage. It is quite nice here, tranquil despite crowds and inside the barriers at least the touts seem kept at bay.

Anyway, taking advantage to stare at phone and try to find somewhere I might get some food. The trouble here is there's no discoverability, since walking the streets at random inevitably leads to capture by a tout. So I am at the mercy of the guide book.

1541 At Kwality restaurant, from guide book. Moderately busy. Bit pricey from my sneaky glance at menu as I waited to be shown to a table, no prices shown outside, wouldn't have come in (too poncy/private) had it not been in guide book. Walked over here from India Gate without being too heavily touted or lost, though woman pinned a little Indian flag on me and tried to get money for an orphan school as I was leaving India Gate.

They haven't given me a menu yet, I don't feel super welcome but fuck it.

1550 Ordered bhuna gosht with basmati rice and a garlic naan, and 650ml of local Black Label (INR150 for 650ml bottle). Feel a bit intimidated by the excessive staff but it's not too swanky. The beer appears to be 'between 3.25% and 5%' according to my casual glance at the label.

1620 Food not bad, though shame meat was on the bone. Getting a coffee, perhaps foolish  but WTF. Managed to get a bit of sauce right on T-shirt (white) under chin, oh well. I shall try to walk home after, on the grounds I can tell any touts I am going to my hotel and I know where I am going.

1627 Got coffee and then bill unasked, I think the guy might have been going off shift but not clear. 840ish apparently with a 20% discount on both food and beer, have paid 1000 and don't expect any change. At least I'm getting something worthwhile for my money here and while not cheap that's not amazingly expensive.

I handed my passport in at desk this morning. Yesterday's chap not there, two others. One seemed completely uncomprehending, almost like I'd offered him a fish to smoke, but the other seemed to get the idea and I left it with them for better or worse.

1638 OK, let's good. Maybe I should get a tuktuk but FFS it's broad daylight and I have a definite destination and sod it.

1719 Back at hotel. Crossing DB Gupta remains an epic adventure, I only did it with the aid of human shields. Either I'm getting better or luckier or heading in this direction is easier, 'cos I only got one friendly tout round Connaught Place and he did help point me in right direction and I fended him off without massive rudeness or inconvenience. A few (but not as many as I expected) rickshaw/tuktuk drivers offered me a ride but they weren't too persistent. Maybe genuinely knowing where I'm going adds a perceptible degree of confidence to my appearance.

Saw a woman selling fruit on street. Not sure her English was great. Asked her how much for two bananas, I thought she said 200. I said '200?' and she didn't seem to respond so I said thanks and walked off. She called 50 after me but a) I had only a 100 note b) I was in a walking away mindset by then. Would happily have paid 100 for 2 but 200 seemed a bit of a pisstake. Maybe she only said 100. I dunno, I hate to haggle anyway.

So this morning I made it to the northern fringe of outer circle of Connaught Circus before being accosted. Some 'office worker' chap did the friendly thing. He tried to get me to go the CCI (from memory) shopping centre. I pretended to follow his directions but didn't. I then got accosted by another chap who also wanted me to go there. He said India Gate was closed just then for some presidential thing. I said in that case I'd go back to my hotel. He 'insisted' it would be better to go to this big shopping centre, only 10 rupees in a tuktuk. Figuring a) it would get me away from him and b) it might be a big shopping centre with food and a taxi rank I gave in. He asked a tuktuk driver how much to go and the guy said 10 rupees. Clearly a fix. Anyway, I got in. We got there and it looked more like a single shop than a shopping centre. I gave the driver 100 and darted off down the street. He called after me but I ignored him and got another tuktuk up the street to national museum. The driver quoted me 150, I figured WTF and it would get me away from there. He actually transferred the fare to another driver who did take me there and who I gave 200 to. (This is one reason I never seem to have any 50 notes. I just assume no one will give me any change.) That tuktuk did actually have a meter, and I think it showed 120-130ish by the time we got there, so 150 is probably not too bad as a tourist, assuming the meter is not just a complete fake.

Anyway, let's do a bit of laundry and maybe some other random chores and perhaps I will head out and see if I can locate one of the bars down the street shown in guide book later. Frankly a bit nervous about being in a bar on my own as if anyone local does speak to me I will assume it's a scam.

Oh, in the national museum were several school parties (v noisy). A group of about 5 girls maybe age 12ish passed me and one said hello and started talking to me. Honestly, it took a few seconds for me to realise that presumably a group of girls on a school trip probably were just practising their English instead of trying to scam me

Museum was OK if not amazing. There was a very impressive carved elephant tusk showing scenes from Buddha's life. I wish the subject matter meant more to me because it was beautifully carved and the tusk was huge.

There was an exhibit in one of the halls of a skeletal piano with a flat-screen attached to it showing a scrolling movie of a 'pitch on Y axis, time on X axis' kind of representation of some Beethoven sonata as it played. Oddly cool and slightly BBC Micro-esque, except the speaker it was playing over was amazingly tinny on the high notes and you could hear the thing from the adjacent floors and it really fucking grated on my nerves after a while. I'm no audiophile, this was serious low-fi stuff.

Maybe it's the beer or the proper food or the lucky run back without the touts but I do feel a bit better generally.

1859 Booked a Spanish lesson for 1930, did homework, popped out for groceries. Yesterday the bananas left were frankly foul, today they were OK so I got four (admittedly small) ones for 15.21. I'd still have paid 100 for two from that woman on the street but 200 really was taking the piss.

2042 OK, slightly against my better judgement going to make tentative foray out for beer. If I can't find the place I have in mind or it's a touty hellhole I am going back. I am *not* walking anywhere with anyone and I am not getting in anyone's vehicle. Will send this now in case phone gets nicked.