What we hadn't realised when we booked was that due to a change of flight schedule by Qatar Airways we would have an extra night in Nagpur so instead of leaving around 1000 hours (after arriving at 0400 the same morning) we had a whole day and night - result.
We had few hours sleep and then went down to breakfast which was pleasant enough with a wide choice of food. It turned out that the reason some were so late emerging from the airport last night was that they were queuing to change money (Indian Rupees are a closed currency). To be honest it hadn't really crossed our minds last night so Ian asked to change some in reception but it turned out they don't do that and actually nor do banks (as some of the group found out when they tried). Anyway reception knew of a money changer and he agreed to come to the hotel around 1100 and change money for as many as wanted it.
The hotel didn't have a map of the area or any tourist information, most unusual, but from the internet we established that we were fairly near a metro station and decided to head off on our own and explore a bit of the city as although we were very tired, it seemed wrong to be there and not take a look around. We dismissed various ideas of visiting the botanical gardens or any temples as it was way too hot and Ian is having problems with his knee and covid lung, but thought we'd try to find the Zero Mile park (Nagpur is in the geographical centre of India and there is a Zero Mile Marker in a park denoting the precise point). The metro has only been built in the last 10 years and runs high above the road network. Internet image.
Reaching Jaiprakash Nagar station involved taking our lives in our hands crossing the road and obligatory roadworks only to discover that entrance was closed and we had to cross back over to another one. We successfully purchased our INR20 (20p) tickets and took the 3 escalators up to the platform.
There are female only carriages on each train presumably to try and cut down on the dreadful sexual abuse that sadly is still so prevalent in India.
I wanted to try and get a new phone charger cable so we decided to get off the metro a stop before Zero Mile as there was a market shown on the map. Bit of a mistake really, there certainly was a large street market but it was very much for locals and although we did find an electrical shop they wanted a ridiculous amount for the cable. We were clearly something of a unusual sight and were stared at wherever we went so unfortunately I decided it better that I didn't try and take any photos. We stayed fairly close to the metro station but just wandered around for a while before deciding to head back to the hotel for a swim.
About 100m from our hotel was a Craft Beer Pub and we decided to stop off for a quick drink and were grateful that they turned the music down for us (we were their only customers). Knowing that the Australian Cricket team had stayed in our hotel a couple of days ago I asked the barman if any of them had been in and of course they had, several times, and he proudly showed us the photos he'd had taken with them including David Warner.
Back at the hotel we changed and went to the small pool which turned out to be absolutely freezing, I couldn't get in past my knees. There were only a couple of sun loungers and no shade whatsoever so we gave up and went back to the room to kill a bit of time before meeting our guides.
The group is the Naturetrek maximum of 16 so we have two guides, both females and very pleasant. One is clearly older and more experienced and as they've never worked together before it'll be interesting to watch how they get on. It transpired that most of our group had turned up at 1200 for the Tiger Direct's meeting and as there was no official sightseeing organised, our guides had arranged for taxis to take them to visit various sights and then to an authentic coffee shop. Two others had asked to be taken to the botanical gardens. However it transpired that the gardens still hadn't reopened after COVID closure and the coffee shop somehow turned into somewhere serving only beer. They were all a bit disappointed having paid £20 each and all seemed astonished that we'd gone out on our own (total cost 40p!).
Our dinner was delicious; although there was a full buffet on offer, we both opted for one dish each off the à la carte menu. I fancied Kung Pao Chicken but wanted to make sure that the chicken would be breast meat only so our waiter got the sous chef to come out and talk to us and he quite honestly confirmed it would be breast and thigh meat so I switched to vegetable biryani. A few moments later out came the head chef and told me he would personally ensure that I got the cut of meat I wanted, he also commented that the dish was spicy which I was happy with. Ian opted for Fish with a Trio of Mushroom in Oyster Sauce and both dishes were absolutely fabulous but boy were the sauces hot!! Neither of us will risk eating meat once we leave the city but we felt we should be OK in this 5* hotel.