After my first adventure in Hyderabad, I was longing to see more of India. Because each state within India has its own language, culture, traditions and cuisine, you really have to travel to see and understand the differences.

The plan: travel from city to city, meeting up with different friends along the way.

I intended to go Delhi, Bhuj, Mumbai, Jaipur, Agra and Chandigarh. I also booked a three night stay in a tent in the Gujarati desert for the Rann Utsav festival. A winter storm almost derailed my plans. Luckily, KLM was able to find me an alternate flight and I made it to Delhi as planned.

My friend’s brother Shashank picked me up from the Delhi airport around 1am. After a quick stop to eat, he took me back to his family’s house where I would rest up for tomorrow’s excursions.

The house was located in a very nice colony. Each day I stayed with Shashank’s family, I woke up to a delicious home-cooked breakfast, usually accompanied by stuffed parathas glazed with ghee.

Shashank took me to his family’s sweets shop, where I tried gajar ka halwa, a seasonally available sweet carrot dessert pudding.

I went to a shopping mall, purchased a few gifts and tried on a variety of shirts (including a few kurtas). As I was trying clothes on, the power in the mall went out… so that was fun.

After I was done at the mall, Shashank gave me a driving tour of Delhi. Have you ever experienced a 4-way intersection  in which everyone tries to go at one time? Me neither, until now.

Eventually we ended up at Connaught Place, a popular park surrounded by two large circles of retail shops. There, we explored some antique shops, a crowded pastry shop, an underground bazaar, ate at one of his favorite spots, and saw India gate.

And for dessert: fire paan! (You’ll want to watch this)

The next day, I continued exploring: the park at Connaught Place, a Sikh temple called Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, Red Fort and Old Delhi.

A friend from college saw on social media that I was in Delhi. Unbeknownst to me, she was in town visiting family, and so we agreed to meet up! In the afternoon, we went shopping and drank chai at Dilli Haat. At night, we checked out all of the “hip” places.

While getting ice cream, I noticed a guy with a hoodie that said “Atlantic City, NJ.” Of course, I just had to go talk to him. Turns out, he was a musician who did a two-week course in NYC and visited Atlantic City during his trip. That night, we made two new friends and ended up dancing and singing karaoke together!

The next day, we went to a tall structure surrounded by tombs known as Qutub Minar, ate pasta, and went shopping for a kurta!

As my time in Delhi came to a close, I couldn’t get over just how welcoming and hospitable Punjabis are. My friends and host family made Delhi such a wonderful experience – I can’t wait to go back!

Click here to read about my continued adventure to Kutch, India.