Visiting the White, Pink and Grey Cities (and more)

[NSun]

I went out for a bit, specifically I went to Humayuns Tomb. Humayun was the 2nd Mughul emperor and it was built by his widow and son who succeeded him. There are several dozen royal family members and officials buried there. It was arguably an inspiration for the Taj in the sense of having a big tomb in the middle of a garden, but it used red sandstone. Took 20 minutes drive to get there, on the way I saw the Commonwealth games stadium but my drivers were driving too fast that I couldn't get a picture.



As with the Taj, you walk down a long path to get to the main gate, then there is a kind of courtyard before the real thing where you see it in a big archway.





















Unlike the Taj, they were a lot more lax inside in the sense that you didn't need an extra ticket to go in, you didn't need to take off your shoes and whilst there were security there,, it seems they'd only go up to you if you were doing something really bad like graffiting.



As with the Taj, its a fake - the real one/s are below.

 

[NSun]

Continued...












On the way out there was an exhibit which highlighted that the garden hadn't always been in the best shape and was restored between 1997 and 2003.

This one graphic was useful showing the 5 resting places for the first 5 Mughul emperors side by side. If it wasn't for the Taj, this would probably be it given that the first and fourth are in Afghanistan and Pakistan whilst the third doesn't look as spectacular.













This is Isa Khan's garden tomb that is 2 decades older. Isa Khan was actually an Afghan noble who fought the Mughuls and lived to 95. At the time this was built Humayan had lost his empire and was exiled but it was regained before Humayun died.

 

[NSun]

Once I got back I was feeling hungry so went to a mall 300m away from where I was staying then had a look around the local area. I just got some butter chicken, naans and a Coke. Cost A$10.







That's not even A$1.50.











Capped off the day with a swim.

 

[SYD]

We did much of your route in January. Probably 15° to 20° cooler most days but by the looks - much much less crowded than now!

 

[NSun]

Woke up the next morning and it was quite hazy.







For the record, Sydney was 25 whilst Bengaluru was 75. I went to the gym for a workout, then it was off to the airport to fly back to Bengaluru.







I was flying with Air India out of T3. It appears T3 handles both international and domestic flights although you get sent through different security scanners dependant on whether or not you're domestic or international. I ended up choosing to fly with India on a rare 787 domestic flight thinking I'd have entertainment. I ended up in the exit room and in a row where I couldn't get the screen out. So all I could do was look out the window.









At Bengaluru, we pulled up at an international gate but got bussed to the terminal.









I ended up coming out in the same courtyard I did a few days ago, only I came out from the opposite side (i.e. the right hand side instead of the left). I ordered an Uber to take me to the 'Chikkajala lookout' which was 10km away and had views of the airport.

 

[NSun]

I ended up walking 30 minutes back to the main road and then had a look at some of the factory outlets. I ended up getting a pair if Puma shoes for 3200 rupees - under $50. I also checked out McDonalds and got a cranberry juice-like drink for just $3. The only reason I went to Maccas was because I hoped it had wifi but it didn't.











I stumbled across this - the Chikkajala fort that was about 3000 years old apparently.





I'd set out from the airport at 11.30am and by now it was 3pm so time to head back and checkin for QF68 home. This airport is growing on me.











I went to this lounge Qantas sends its passengers to. Had good food and drinks but loathed the fact that you could only get wifi through the 'multi-step process'.



More airports should have open air spaces, in my view.

 

[NSun]

VH-EBS...yet again. We ended up having that 'secondary security check' the Australian government insists on but only forces it in some countries. The security were not even looking at the scanners and when I got home, I found a 500mL bottle of water in my bag. Maybe water was exempt, maybe it was about being seen to be screening rather than removing the liquids...I don't know.



Seat 6A for me in the 8-row mini cabin. We had a crew that had a 4-night layover and many had gone onto Pondicherry for a couple of nights. Made me want to go there next time I'm in India with what they shared, and I shared insights about Udaipur that they wanted to visit.

I didn't have dinner but here's the menu.



Woke up 6 hours into the flight and looked out the window. I don't think I've ever seen more stars in my life.











The plane had Wifi so put it into ChatGPT and it told me it was the Milky Way but as it was meant to be seen - with no light pollution.

Breakfast. Unfortunately the toast was stale but museli was OK.







Home sweet home. But I actually ended up flying up to Brisbane 3 hours later and back. When I first booked the flight it was a week later that I was returning and wanted to go straight to the Broncos Roosters game. I culled the trip a week but still wanted to take the flight given the DSCs in Domestic J.



VH-OGE our chariot. Had chicken and potato - did the job.



Then economy on the way back on the same plane and just got a bottle of water.

That's the end of the report. Next trip will be to the US for Thanksgiving - a trip I haven't done in 4 years so am looking forward to. Will be in San Francisco on the day of then will spend a few days in Arizona and New Mexico.

Thanks for reading.