I wish my first impression was more poetic but at midnight, in the midst of an air quality alert, the world’s second largest city on Earth offers up some distinct sensory experiences. One of the first things I noticed once on the airport jetway was a distinct odor or as urban social scientist refer to as a ‘smellscape’. Although hard to capture in writing- its apparently a mix of auto and truck emissions, industrial and construction dust, garbage burning and open sewers with decomposing waste. A big pivot from our Colorado clean skies (except during local wildfire events). And still- the notion of being halfway around the globe, in the middle of Asia for the first time is thrilling and adventurous.

The hotel we are staying, the Suryaa is in the heart of New Delhi’s New Friends Colony neighborhood, considered posh by Indian standards. In essence the city has two Delhis- the old “Delhi” the capital of Muslim India before its British colonial period and “New Delhi” created by the British Raj- a more orderly and deliberate urban design.

The roads are wider and lined with lush vegetation- a fact that no doubt that aids in blunting the immense about of air pollution this city has.

From our hotel room we see a number of religious landmarks all shrouded in this dusty air. We are anxious to visit some of these in the coming days.

managed a great massage and bit of shopping in the basement stores. First shopping of many. Lounge with cool carpet and ceiling.