after the crowded cacophony of yesterday’s Old Delhi, i was ready for a change. what i wasn’t ready for, however, was the splendor of Humayun’s Tomb.
sidebar: getting there unfortunately, Humaynu’s Tomb is not that close to a metro stop, so i took an auto rickshaw from JLN Stadium Station. it cost me 80 rupees there and 70 back, although i know for a fact i was overcharged; i would think you shouldn’t pay more than 50 at most for the five minute ride. also, the vast majority of auto rickshaw drivers here wanted to take me some place to go shopping, but i was steadfast in my refusal. of course, they get a commission from this, so they will charge you a higher price or not even bother driving you at all if you don’t play along with their scheme.
ok, no, i guess that doesn’t sound very appealing, a TOMB. but it is. predating the Taj Mahal (also a tomb, i suppose) by two decades, this large mausoleum houses a large number of bodies (not just Emperor Humayun) and is surrounded by a park-like Mughal formal garden with small canals (some filled with water, some not) crisscrossing the grass. other than the sound of children (it’s very popular for school field trips, it seems), the only other sound was some religious music from a nearby temple.
other than the main building, there are several other gates, mosques, and tombs on the gronuds, including that of Isa Khan, above, accessed via a relatively unassuming gate in the wall to the right of the entrance. i suppose that is a good segue to the Instagram shots!
i enjoyed this place so much more than yesterday’s Red Fort and Jama Masjid combined. the restoration was complete so it’s in a much nicer state, and it was so much more calm and relaxing. walking the perimeter of the gardens and exploring the secondary buildings, i almost felt like i had the whole place to myself. (this is why it pays to go relatively early in the day, too!)
oh and by the way: