17th February, 2016. Flights Melbourne to Singapore stopover then Flight to Delhi and transfer to Oberoi, Delhi.

Gavin picked us up on Tuesday at 1.30pm and. We enjoyed  an excellent drive from Glen Waverley to Melbourne international Airport in just over 50 minutes.  He dropped us directly outside International Departures and we strolled some 60 metres to Check-in and we we were processed by Singapore staff in 15 minutes and we were delighted that our checked luggage was 20.1 kg and 18.4kg.  So we were really pleased. We were through security and customs in 15 minutes so we had over an hour before our boarding time.

The flight from Melbourne to Singapore was excellent and served a superb meal. Following this we both slept for almost 3 hours and the total trip time of 7 hours 30 minutes passed quickly.

We landed in Singapore almost 15 minutes early and caught the sky train from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2 where we had a stopover of 5 plus hours in the Krisworld lounge. This was a long and difficult stopover because our body clocks wanted sleep.  We eventually left the lounge for our 13 minute walk to Gate F58 where we boarded SQ402 to Delhi.  We decided to sleep as soon as possible after takeoff and had almost 4 hours.  Another first class flight and we landed in Delhi almost 25 minutes early and then we were processed through Immigration via the Business Class queue, whereas the economy line had hundreds of people.

The exit through Customs was uneventful  and we were met by the Tauck representative who advised that our driver and guide was nearby.  We left the AirPort and experienced the first mass of hundreds of Indian people all trying to exit the airport, with traffic going in every which way.  We had received our welcome lei of marigolds and water and settled for our 35-40 minute drive into Delhi. Now this proved an amazing experience with 3 lanes becoming 4 or even  5 lines of traffic.

But when we eventually left the  freeway we passed through boulevards with many embassies and then came to the heavily secured Oberoi Hotel , Delhi.  We were then greeted like Royalty, checked in and up to our room 535 in no time. Fortunately we were able to go directly to our room, which is beautifully appointed. Unpacking occurred very quickly.

We then slept from 7.20am until almost 13.00pm, then showered and changed and went to lunch in the restaurant named 360 degrees. We enjoyed the meal and we are back in our room at 15.15pm.  Ken has since taken photos of this hotel which has been  voted "best in Asia " for 2 of last 3 years.

I am writing this at almost 18.00pm and it is nearly dark. It has been a long day since leaving home.

We have enjoyed the excellent flights and the hotel is beautiful.  We now look forward to a wonderful tour with Tauck. Ken has already met a couple from Edinburgh, Scotland.  They appear pleasant and are very well travelled.