Final stage of the Road Trip

On the way out of Agra we stopped off at Sikandra, Emperor Akbar's tomb.
On my previous road trip a year ago we had been stopped from going into Sikandra by The Guide - just had to peer through the railings. This time it was nice to go inside and see what I missed.
The contrast with other tombs is impressive. It's very simple, calm and almost minimal.
Except for this bit of ornamentation, at the entrance to the tomb. Also unusual was the fact that we could actually go down to his tomb, which was a fairly simple white marble tomb in a huge open, dark room with plain white walls and the dome ceiling, with an impressive echo. There's just one light, an elaborate metal lamp all cut out prettily. No photos inside.

Walking around the outside of the tomb we saw that one of the 4 gates is falling into ruin. Strange, considering that the others are apparently well maintained.
The parkland around the tomb within the walls is considerably below the level of the paths and deer graze.
And monkeys frolic:Then we got back on the road home. We stopped at the Maharaja's Hotel - same as the last trip I did. Very disconcertingly our driver decided not to drive past the place then double back at the next suitable u-turn point in the road (there was a central reservation). Instead he transferred over to the other side of the road BEFORE the restaurant, and drove for half a mile or so the wrong way down the dual carriageway. Hanna and I just sat and looked at the road ahead in stunned silence. It's so Wrong that doing that isn't unusual over here. But I can't see how they can change - the rules have been bent so far over the years that they've broken now.

It's very hard to get traffic photos as generally a motorcyclist or cyclist or camel will get in the way. I got this one of a load of lorries though: All the lorries (mostly) are the same size and shape. They are all hand-painted rather than professionally lettered and most of them also get decked out in tinsel and flowers and dangly tassels.

The final photo I took of the weekend was this - I've been trying to get a good shot of a gas man every time I've been in India - and finally spotted a good one whilst we were waiting at some traffic lights. Result!We got back to Delhi in daylight, and then went out for a quick shopping trip to Janpath and Connaught Place. As we had said goodbye to the driver (with a tip) we caught an autorickshaw for the short trip. Which was fine and surprisingly not scary. Either we are desensitised to danger now or there is something reassuring about sitting in a tiny metal and fabric scooter edging through the rush hour traffic.
We caught the rickshaw there and ended up just walking back. In the dark. Down an unpavemented road past a political gathering (not a demonstration and definitely nothing near a riot, but still we walked past on the other side). Hotel, unpack, cup-a-soup, bed.