At about 2pm I was awoken with coffee from a lovely, smiling stewardess. I could get used to this club class thing. Before long the clouds parted and I could just make out a jumble of distant settlements and acres of cultivated land. As we touched down I was disappointed. Where was the sun? I'd come to India and it was overcast.

The lack of sun was one thing, but nothing could have prepared me for the wall of humidity that hit us as we came off the plane. It was unbelievable, how do people cope with this? We struggled through to the taxi area and booked a ride to the YWCA, somewhere in Delhi. India is incredibly green.

View from a jaloppy

As we made our way into the city there was an abundance of trees and fields. Even in the centre you were never far from a park or some wild, uncultivated area teeming with life. Even the YWCA, our home for the next few days was ringed by dense foliage, gardens and beautiful lawns. The YWCA reminded me of an old hospital, red brick and very formal looking. We checked in and I was shown to my room. The heat in the room made it difficult to breathe, I somehow managed to get a couple of hours sleep.

Brian and Stacey came to waken me, saying we could go out for some food. Encouraged by this I dressed quickly and joined them downstairs. Weird, that could almost be the sound of rain. Looking out of the window I realised that is exactly what it was. Relentless torrential rain. Why had no-one bothered to tell me that August is monsoon season in Delhi? More importantly why were we going to walk to a restaurant in this?

Children on the temple steps

As we stepped outside it seemed to be raining even harder. Well, I guess the restaurant can't be that far - can it? Soaked to the bone we walked through flooded roads that were awash with filth and rubbish. The fact that we got lost a couple of times seemed trivial.

After about half an hour we stood outside the restaurant. I'm thinking what's the point of food, I just want to lay down and cry. We went in and dried ourselves off and ordered some food. It was beautiful. The weather might have been a disappointment but the food made up for it.

The three of us sat chatting for ages, feeling quite pleased with ourselves, at having escaped from England to wander around India for three weeks. Stacey remarked that my face looked a lot softer and relaxed since the flight. She was right, I felt wonderful. We paid the bill and took off onto an enormous ring road, the "Connaught Way".

This was a huge district of shops, businesses and little markets. We buzzed around for a while, getting a little agitated with the sheer activity of the place, pollution and bustle. Up ahead I saw a Hindu Temple.

It was set back from the roadside and looked really inviting. I asked Stacey if we would be allowed in. She said of course, we just need to take off our shoes and maybe buy a small offering.

The views expressed on this page are those of the contributor and the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the BBC.