Saturday, November 11

We flew from Trivandrum to Delhi, arriving in the middle of the afternoon. Our flight to Helsinki leaves early tomorrow morning. We therefore booked a hotel with the intention of going to bed very early and trying to fit a full night’s sleep in before we leave at dawn to head back to the airport.

We booked a room in the Holiday Inn, not realising that it sits inside Aerocity, ten minutes from the airport. Aerocity seems to consist of giant hotels, giant office blocks, and nothing much else. From the window of room 141 we have a clear view of the Ibis opposite.

We wander out and find a bizarre mall that seems like it has arrived whole from Dubai and woken up surprised to find itself in India. Next time we will try eating here.

We wander back and do indeed manage a full night’s sleep. Almost.