INDIA, DELHI: HUMAYUN'S TOMB

 December 22, 2024

After church we got on the road for a city tour of New Delhi. I can't say this enough, but the traffic is CRAZY in the city. There is no respect for lanes, and there is lots of honking. Tourists should not drive.

Our first stop was Humayun's Tomb, built for the Mughal emperor Mirza Nasir al-Din Muhammad (aka "Humayun," and I have no idea how the names relate to each other) by his first wife and chief consort, Empress Bega Begum and with the patronage of Humayun's son, the great Emperor Akbar, in the 1570s. The Empress was so devastated by her husband's death that she dedicated the remainder of her life to the construction of the most magnificent mausoleum up to that time in the Empire. It was the first monumental Islamic mausoleum in India as well as the first garden tomb, and it greatly influenced that design of the Taj Mahal 80 years later.

The tomb and surrounding property was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, which enabled it to undergo extensive restoration. It didn't take long for us to discover what an excellent guide we had. His name was Sajeet, and Bob found him online. I wish I had more info to share because he was one of the best guides we have ever had. 

The tomb complex has an impressive 67-acre footprint and includes over 100 tombs in addition to Humayan's Tomb, as well as several ponds and  gardens.

It was pretty busy the day we were there.

INDIA: RETURN TO DELHI AND SUNDAY CHURCH IN AN LDS WARD

 December 21-22, 2024

Bob left early in the morning for one more birding trip with Bablu while the rest of us enjoyed a slower morning with time to pack and eat breakfast. A van and driver picked us up around 10:30 AM and we began the long trek back to Guwahati and the airport. This time I sat up front, and the driver was much, much smoother. We also seemed to be on better roads, so I wonder if we took a different (perhaps longer?) route. Anyway, I survived without motion sickness.

We had another difficult pass through the airport. We had no ticket confirmations or boarding passes, which apparently were required just to get through the first door. The officials finally let us in, but three of us had to stay near the entrance guards while Bob picked up our boarding passes. Our time in Guwahati and Kaziranga was the only part of the trip where we were not with Audley Travel, the agency Bob used to plan the rest of the trip, and it reinforced that when you travel to India, it is a good idea NOT to do it on your own. We are pretty experienced, savvy travelers, and it was almost too much for us!

When we had arrived in Guwahati four days before, we didn't stay long in the airport. This time we were there for several hours waiting for our departure time.  We admired the holiday decor. 

We tried to understand why these signs were on the trash cans.

We hunted and hunted for something for dinner and finally ordered a veggie pizza that came with corn, green olives, green peppers, onions and ketchup.  Yeah, no.

INDIA: KAZIRANGA NATIONAL PARK, DAY 4

 December 20, 2024

On our last day at Kaziranga National Park, Chris, Stan, and I needed a break from driving around in the Jeep and elected to take a boat ride on the Brahmaputra River while Bob went on a morning birding drive with Bablu.

I'm not sure it was the right decision.

It took us almost an hour to drive to the river and appropriate dock, and then there really wasn't much to see.  

We walked out onto the very fine white sand and gazed out at what looked more like a lake than a river. The water didn't seem to be moving, and the expanse was very broad. The Brahmaputra River is the 15th longest river in the world and the 9th largest by output.

We three passengers boarded our luxury yacht with our guide and two people running the boat.

We motored away from shore and upriver for a while.