After speaking to Bill the trip organizer at 7 AM, who let us off the hook of having to take the train, we followed his suggestion that if we were going to take a car for the 5 hour drive, we should get going early (and we could do scavenges along the way in the car). The hotel had a car and driver waiting for us (along with a food package we requested) in 30 minutes. I am eternally grateful to the Oberoi Hotel. Their service and effectiveness is the best! Our driver was a lovely Hindu man. We discussed lots of things, including his arranged marriage and his plans for his daughter. One of his two sons is a software engineer.
First stop was in Sikandra, to visit Akhbar's tomb. Akhbar was a Muslim ruler in the mid 1500s who came to power at the age of 13. He expanded his empire to cover most of northern India but was a just ruler. He is best known for his tolerance of other religions. He. eliminated an oppressive tax on Hindus and his many wives included Muslims as well as Hindus and Christians.
Next scavenge was to visit Maryiam's tomb -Chrisitian wife of Akbar.
As we drove, our driver pointed out interesting things along the way, like tidy little huts assembled out of dried dung patty cakes, scattered around the fields. Some of the huts were decorated - in chevron patterns and the like. He showed us wedding cars - where the bride and groom's names are on a paper (taped to the window) and flowers stuck on the cars.
As we got into Delhi, we saw some of our scavenges. It was good to be able to do this because we lost a day. Also, by approaching the hotel in Delhi by car, we got to see New Delhi which is a different planet from the Old Delhi we had seen a few days ago. It is wide, tree lined boulevards, imposing government buildings that evince the feel of Washington DC. One of the scavenges was to identify and photograph the buiding on the 50 rupee note. It was Parliament. Done. Check. Also along the way, we also saw the Bahai Lotus Temple, India Gate (war memorial for the 90,000 Indians who died in WWI (wow!) and other wars. We didn't have time to get to the National Museum, Ghandi's Tomb, or the place he was assinated, and many more, but oh well. Gotta come back. Final stop before having our driver drop us at the hotel, we finished the final mandatory food challenge by choosing the one that said to treat yourself at Bukhara (an Afghan restaurant at a hotel in the Starwood Luxury Collection). Not feeling 100 percent, we treated ourselves to bread (naan) and water. But, we got the receipt and the photo.
Driver waiting outside, we headed back to Shangri-La where we ended up sleeping for 1 of the 4 nights. Expensive luggage locker and shower facility.
Had we felt better, we would have gone out and scavenged some more, but we needed to take care of ourselves. One of the things that I am sorry to have missed was a Slumdog Tour, led by a former street child and sponsored by an organization that feeds and educates street children. Another scavenge which we were not planning to do, but sounded great was to volunteer for 4 hours with any one of 3 charities that help children. That scavenge made sense for people who have been here before. One couple, Bev and Buz, who did that scavenge, have an India trip planned for October, so that was perfect for them and they found it incredibly rewarding, in that they got to teach English in a well-organized situation.
Our meeting was at 6 PM but it was only 3 PM, so we went to the hotel business center (open 24 hours WITH a tech concierge who helped me upload to Shutterfly my 800 pictures I have taken so far, in case my camera gets stolen. Then, shower, hand wash those fantastic quik dry clothes, and a nap.
At our meeting, we learned that our flight out of Delhi is at 4:45 AM and we need to be in the lobby at 1:45 AM.
Next stop: Istanbul! And we get to leave the Indian heat. Apparently, the temp in Istanbul is 60-ish.