A later start to the day as we are visiting Noida's one and only attraction, the Arkshardham Temple. Noida is a redevelopment area that has resulted in 100 rural villages 12 or more km’s from old Dehli becoming part of a greater Delhi. Our Hotel the DoubleTree and its sister hotel The Hilton sit side by side in the middle of wasteland. Across the road lies a stinking cesspit of a waterway, probably a sewer, beyond it the Metro and the expressway. On the other side of the wasteland lie residential streets full of the usual Indian chaos. Kids play cricket on the wasteland in morning and evening. In the distance huge tower blocks of completed and incomplete apartments rise from the ground. Further south modern office blocks for KPMG and Accenture sit beside the expressway, beside wasteland and cultivated fields. As everywhere else, people, cows, cars and motorcycles are everywhere.

The temple is only ten minutes away . Built in 2005 by 7000 craftsmen, it is an enormous complex, part Disneyland and part religious shrine. It is dedicated to Swaminarayan sect of Hinduism that I had never heard off and founded by the Bhagwan Swaminarayan. The temple was built by BAPS (Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha) which is a charitable organisation providing welfare to the needy but still finds the money to build a large elaborate temple. Apparently it is according to the Guinness World Records the world's largest comprehensive Hindu temple. Whoo Hoo!

For whatever reason you can’t take any cameras, phones, gadgets, books, food or drinks into the complex, but unsurprisingly food and drink and photos in in front of the temple are all available for sale.

Our "tour" is an educational show as we shown a series of animatronic robot displays telling the story of the Bhagwan and his philosophies. The “highlight” is the culmination, a boat ride through 10,000 years of Indian history in approximately 12 minutes seeing a series of displays of the highlights of Indian invention and spirituality through the ages with the Bhagwan Swaminarayan being the most important . We were all moved; to on move quickly. We had earlier declined the opportunity to view the IMAX film on the seven-year pilgrimage made by Swaminarayan during his teenage years throughout India

The temple itself is elaborate, carved white marble and stone with gold leaf everywhere, more gaudy than graceful and the silence and no touching rules seemed to be suggestions only.

We were all pleased when the tour finished, it was mildly interesting but there is a reason you can’t find it mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide.

Back at the hotel Tina and I joined Wayne, Frank and Brendan for a journey on the metro to a nearby western style shopping mall, The Great India Place.

The stench crossing the bridge from the waterway was overpowering, it seems a very strange place for a Hilton. The metro was impressive. Clean and with high security, it was easy to use and very, very cheap. Only 10 rupees to go three stops. The 500 metre walk from the station to the shopping mall was the usual Indian experience, dodging potholes, people, dogs and vehicles. The mall is in comparison an oasis. With two department stores and lots of brand shops we could have been anywhere. We lunched, wandered for an hour or so and bought a few things before heading back.

The evening was spent once again spent inside the Doubletree. After drinks at the ever popular Roadhouse Bar and Grill, we ventured upstairs to the Café on 3 for an official team dinner with the all you can eat buffet.