The bus keeps trundling down the road – with Suneel and now Sanjay still on the phone screaming at someone occasionally. It’s a good time now to tell you about the bus – which suspension notwithstanding is extremely well kept and comfortable. But it’s the front cab that intrigues us – we’ve never seen a bus like this (but they are all over India apparently) where the driver and his assistant have their own large glassed off area at the front. It is like a train engineer booth, so that when the door is closed we are cut off from both Sanjay and Suneel, giving them a little more privacy to curse out whoever is on the end of the phone line at the bus repair company! It works great in general, because they are up there chatting away without having to worry about interrupting Bhanu’s tour guide info – and there is also tons of storage up front for water and different things that Sanjay needs for us.
So, all that to say, that we know they are still fighting with someone up there, but it’s muffled and as long as the bus is still clipping along, albeit at an angle, we’re all happy as larks in the back. We finally drift over to the shoulder of the highway (and the whole bus takes a huge collective gulp) but it is only to meet a truck of some sort and for Suneel and Sanjay to yell at these people a little more. LOL. Turns out this is our repair vehicle and they will follow us to our next stop, the Itmud-ud-Dualah tomb, and take the bus to get it fixed while we are touring. Collective sigh of relief!
Turning off the highway, we now make our way out to the mausoleum on the bank of the Yamuna river. This is considered the “baby Taj” as its design is a precursor for the Taj Majal. Finished in 1628, it was built by Nur Jahan for her father and mother, although the parents of Mumtaz Mahal (her niece and for whom the Taj Mahal was built) are also buried here. The design of the mausoleum was starkly different than typical buildings of the time. It was delicately designed, and marks a transition away from the domed architecture traditionally used for mausoleums or monuments. Green gardens surround the main structure, which is made of white marble with extensive inlay – the first time stone or jewel inlay was ever used, all accessed by red sandstone gateways, providing a beautiful contrast.
We are free to wander around, and we do so with abandon, beginning with the Redstone gates that frame the beautiful white marble main mausoleum (even if oblivious tourists get in the way of the photo)…
..then onto the gardens and the mausoleum with its intricately carved marble decorations.
Inside the mausoleum, there are beautiful frescoes, some refreshed, some in original form, as well as inlaid ceiling tiles, and of course the tombs.
Back outside, we enjoying exploring the grounds and walking out to the river to watch the sun slowly start its descent into the horizon (or as Bhanu would point out, the earth slowly rotate its way out of the sunshine and into the darkness – because after all, the earth rotates around the sun, so how can the sun really “set”?).
Then it is time to just wander back to our meeting point, taking shot after shot of of Itmad-ud-Daulah in the emptiness of the waning light and departing tourists.
Sunny and I even get into the act….
…and then we finally get the “money” shot without the oblivious tourist…
…and after wandering through museum, which had an excellent explanation of the original gardens (designed to be a paradise with an orchard, herbs and flowering fragrant fruit) but overhauled so many times it lost its purpose (except for the remaining cypress trees) until a recent project started to retain its original design…..we take our leave of the baby Taj and head off to the bus on our way to the hotel.
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