With apparently such heavy traffic, I had expected major queues but was surprised the queues filled only half the immigration hall. They were processing very efficiently as I was through in under 5 minutes and at my pre-arranged ride to Trident Hilton Gurgaon where I'd be staying care of several free night certificates earned during promos this and last year.

The ride from airport to hotel was short but slow and chaotic. It seemed most of the many trucks on the road either didnt have mirrors, or rather the drivers don't use them, as every single vehicle would toot on the horn when coming alongside each truck. Given how many trucks there were, it as a cacophony of sound, even with the car windows up.

I must have been more tired than I thought as check in was a blur and pretty much collapsed to sleep. When I wake up much refreshed the next morning I check out the room. It is the same as the Diamond Desk had ordered for me - a modest waterview room (ie low-midrange). The hotel is laid out in a big square donut shape with 2 large infinity pools in the middle and a sunken swimming pool in between (and a separate bit housing reception and the restaurants, business centre, etc. The room is nice enough with large firm bed, more pillows than you could throw a stick at and an invitation to request more or different kinds if desired, a couch, desk, large tv, and the most important of all - airconditioning.

There is complimentary bottled water and some apples, which get replaced daily. The hotel is certainly a stark contrast to the heat, noise, dust and smells that are Delhi.

While here we visit both old and new Delhi seeing the usual sights. Make a day trip to Agra & Taj Mahal, but decide on a tour rather than relying on the express train (a long day but much better than the slow train/bus). We had a couple of days of severe dust storm with temperatures above 100F (39C), which made things unpleasant. After an hour walking in that around Gurgaon it was time to head back to the hotel through the murk (visibility down to 200m) before I choke on the dust. Back at the hotel the generator had frequent (several times and hour) brief interruptions - so if you are working on laptop you may want a surge protector. One hot day the air conditioning also failed