Today, we got ourselves organized to leave for the last leg of our trip. We (meaning Bernie) also took more pictures of the owls who came back to their favorite roost. How lucky for us to be in this beautiful home, at the right time to see these two beautiful birds.
Our breakfast was quite nice and very varied. There was the South Indian component but also some French Toasts, toasts and jam, scrambled egg and fruit.
Kumar is also an amateur photographer so he and Bernie had a lot to chat about.
Later on, he very kindly offered to drive us to the first stop of the coach going to the airport but before that, they shared some delicious samosas with us and a nice piece of homemade chocolate cake . It was all delicious and an added bonus since this was suppose to be a B&B sort of arrangement. Pauline gave me her email address when she found out I was a born baker. I will be sending her some recipes when I get home. They really are lovely people.
We did not realize that this bus was not an express bus to the airport but rather a milk route to the airport. It took almost 2 hours to get there and we arrived at 3:20 for a 4 o'clock flight. As luck would have it, our flight was delayed about 30 minutes so it all worked out for the best.
Kumar, if you read this, thank you again for everything.
We landed in Mumbai around 6:30 but, despite an rather aggressive cab driver, we made it here by 7:30. We came by the new Worli Sea Link Bridge. It greatly reduced the drive time to town and we were happy to see this new engineering marvel.
We are finally catching up with this blog since the have WiFi here.
Tomorrow, we will meet with our friends Chis and Vera who have come from Mangalore. They will also be visiting their relatives here in Mumbai.
Our breakfast was quite nice and very varied. There was the South Indian component but also some French Toasts, toasts and jam, scrambled egg and fruit.
Kumar is also an amateur photographer so he and Bernie had a lot to chat about.
Later on, he very kindly offered to drive us to the first stop of the coach going to the airport but before that, they shared some delicious samosas with us and a nice piece of homemade chocolate cake . It was all delicious and an added bonus since this was suppose to be a B&B sort of arrangement. Pauline gave me her email address when she found out I was a born baker. I will be sending her some recipes when I get home. They really are lovely people.
We did not realize that this bus was not an express bus to the airport but rather a milk route to the airport. It took almost 2 hours to get there and we arrived at 3:20 for a 4 o'clock flight. As luck would have it, our flight was delayed about 30 minutes so it all worked out for the best.
Kumar, if you read this, thank you again for everything.
We landed in Mumbai around 6:30 but, despite an rather aggressive cab driver, we made it here by 7:30. We came by the new Worli Sea Link Bridge. It greatly reduced the drive time to town and we were happy to see this new engineering marvel.
We are finally catching up with this blog since the have WiFi here.
Tomorrow, we will meet with our friends Chis and Vera who have come from Mangalore. They will also be visiting their relatives here in Mumbai.
Lloyd and Lynanne's Agra Day -2/9/12
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We were up at 4:30am and met our driver, Mr. Gian Singh and another guest (a young woman architect from Argentina), for a quick trip to the train station - not much traffic at that hour. However when we got close to the station there was a giant jam. Mr. Singh got us close enough to point the way to our gate.
The trip to Agra, with breakfast, was uneventful, and Mr. Saif, our guide found us quickly at the station. Agra is a "small city" of about 1.5 million. It is much like the old India that I remember from 40 years ago, narrow roads, pedal rickshaws, bullock carts, and lots of dust. We zoomed off to the Taj Mahal. Since my last visit, the area around the Taj has been improved with tourism facilities, park areas and a couple of hotels. You park and take a CNG jitney. The experience of being at the Taj Mahal is just as powerful as I remember, and was enhanced for both of us by Mr. Saif's commentary.
Lynanne's note on the Taj: The inlaid jewel work was so gorgeous. The unimaginable toil and craftsmanship over years to create the Taj is mind -boggling. It and the Red Fort just rise out of a very flat plain. Awe-inspiring!
For me (Lloyd) the highlight of the day was the Red Fort. The Mughals really defined how to do empire; such grand scale and insightful design. The ghosts of long dead queens, concubines and and slaves were almost visible in my imagination. What a place!
Mr. Saif's took us to a marble shop where we decided to buy an inlaid marble plate, after a demonstration showing the techniques used in making the inlays. No doubt the shop was a set-up for tourists, but we did it anyway.
After lunch we went out into the countryside for a 35 kilometer trip to Fahtipur Sikri. Again, the whim of a king produced an amazing set of gardens, palaces and mosques; then it was all abandoned 17 years later. The ride to and from the monument, showing ordinary people doing ordinary things (and driving in the inimitable Indian fashion), was also priceless. We hustled back to Agra to do a brief tour of the "baby Taj," which was a lovely precursor to better known Taj Mahal. Then to the gardens on the other side of the Yumana River to catch the Taj Mahal at sunset. What a day! Off to the train back to Delhi. A very long day, but definitely worth it.