So I’ve talked to at least a dozen travelers about Delhi, and everyone has the same story. Their flight went in there, they had about a day there, they stayed in Paharganj, and they hated it. In addition:

• everyone got taken to a shady Delhi tourist office

• everyone had their shady Delhi tourist office tell them lies and try to get them to book package trips to Kashmir (one tried to tell me the roads to Leh were closed)

• everyone had someone try to scam them on train tickets

• everyone had at least one dishonest tuk-tuk driver

So, tips for first-timers:

• don’t go to any tourist offices in Delhi

• if anyone tells you anything that doesn’t sound quite right, confirm it with someone who’s not in tourist Delhi/Paharganj

• do not book package trips in tourist offices in Delhi, particularly to Kashmir

• book your transit out ahead of time if possible (I used redbus.in successfully; I guess cleartrip.com is good for trains)

• spending money here is like gambling: don’t spend any money you can’t afford to just throw away

• get out of there as soon as possible

Despite your fears, it’s not at all true that everyone in India is a liar and trying to take your money. But I think it is true in Paharganj.