Humayun's tomb in Delhi.

Humayun’s tomb is the first garden tomb in the Indian sub continent. It is the tomb of Emperor Humayun, the 2^nd ruler to ascend the throne after Babur who was the 1^st Mughal Emperor.

It was commissioned by his wife and chief consort Empress Bega Begum in 1565, 9 years after his death, and completed in 1572 under the patronage of the 3^rd Mughal Emperor Akbar, Humayun’s son.

Located in Nizamuddin, East Dehli, Humayun’s tomb or Makbara-e -Humayun is one of the best preserved Mughal monuments and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993.

This tomb is the starting point of the Mughal architecture in India, a combination of Turkish, Persian and Indian architectural styles. This style peaked during the reign of Shah Jehan, the 5^th Mughal Emperor who commissioned the famous Taj Mahal.

A memorable road trip - Part 3

Our brief sojourn in the salubrious environs of OYO rooms Hotel in Kathmandu came to an end and now it was time to return to Delhi via Gorakhpur and Agra. Fortunately for us the OYO rooms staff had gone that proverbial mile ahead and found out for us that we would face no road closure when we leave and hence be spared the off roading that we had to do during our incoming drive. They also packed some delicious sandwiches and French fries for us to have on the way to ensure we have breakfast on the go.

A slight drizzle kept us company till we left Kathmandu and soon we were on the Highway to Gorakhpur. This time on, we got on to the highway that had eluded on our drive in to Kathmandu. We

were singing till we reached the patch of 23kms which was under repair. It took us 3 hours to cross

that ‘patch’ of bad roads. But the advantage this time around was we were prepared for the bad roads 

and were comparatively fresh as it was in the first half of the day of our drive unlike the last time

when the bad roads and closed roads were thrown at us without any warning and in the second half of

the day when we were already looking forward to a lovely cup of evening tea in the hotel.

We had lunch in a Nepali dhaba at at the point where the good roads were in sight and started thinking back on the wonderful time we had during our drive to Nepal, in Nepal and now getting out 

of Nepal. But the sight of the arch ‘Welcome to India’ at the border did light up all our faces with joy! After the Immigration and Customs formalities we cheered as we drove into India, onwards to Gorakhpur. We had a comfortable overnight stay at the same OYO rooms Hotel that we had stayed earlier and left early next morning for Agra.

A couple of bloggers who were keen on visiting the Red Fort in Agra were dropped off at the fort 

gates and the rest of proceeded to check in OYO rooms Home stay. After the check in formalities and

refreshing ourselves with some tea, two of us decided to visit the Mehtab Bagh which is behind the Taj Mahal, on the other side of the Yamuna river. It was very peaceful out there with no teeming 

crowds and almost no noise pollution. Got some rare views (for me) of the Taj Mahal and was glad we went there. Within half an hour, the security started whistling and driving out all visitors. Anyway we had our fill of the Taj beauty and made our way to Sadar Bazaar where Team ScoutMyTrip would 

meet and check out the Agra chaat and kulfi delicacies followed by ‘Mama Chicken’ and ‘Mama Franky’.

For me the mango kulfi was the hero of the evening.

Next morning after a delicious in house breakfast of parathas we set out on the home run to Delhi. The drive was concluded in the OYO office premises with a lot of ‘Thank you’ and ‘Great meeting with you’, all around, with all of us having forged new friendships and promises to keep in touch.

Thank you ScoutMyTrip and OYOrooms for this wonderful 2500kms, 2 nations, roadtrip! Travel is such a bonding catalyst!

A memorable road trip - Part 1

Magic happens when two young startups namely ‘ScoutMy Trip’ a travel portal that is ‘The Ultimate Road Trip Planner’ and ‘OYO’(On Your Own) Rooms, the hospitality portal, get together to give a few bloggers a magical roadtripping experience. The CEO and CMO of Scout My Trip commanded two vehicles with their exemplary driving (Mahindra Scorpio and Ford EcoSport), one an SUV, another a ‘compact SUV car’, on a two thousand five hundred kilometres trip from Delhi to Lucknow to Gorakhpur to Kathmandu and back to Delhi via Gorakhpur and Agra. All the night halts were at OYO rooms that were truly affordable and provided just what a traveller needs on a road trip – clean rooms, clean toilets, clean linen (the emphasis being on clean), excellent service, good food and free WiFi which is a necessity these days to remain connected. Overall they were Efficient, Innovative and Friendly to ensure a comfortable stay.

We met up at OYO Townhouse in Safdarjung Enclave and went out to Rajinder Da Dhaba in the neighbourhood for dinner and an opportunity to get to know each other.

The CEO, CTO and the CMO of Scout My Trip

After an amazing meal all of us were glad to see that we all loved to travel and explore food from all over the country and hence retired to our well-appointed rooms for a restful night.

Next morning all of us met up at the lobby at 6 a.m. raring to set out on an epic drive which would last nine days.

We were flagged off on schedule and were soon cruising on the boring highways and expressways to 

reach Lucknow in time for lunch.

We stopped over at a ‘Dhaba’ along the route for some energising parathas for breakfast.

After an uneventful drive we reached OYO rooms using Google maps.

The rooms were comfortable and air conditioned as the summer heat was making its presence felt strongly.

Once in Lucknow we got into two rickshaws and headed straight for ‘Tunday Kababi’ the best place in town for some excellent kababs. We were well guided by Saumya who blogs at Road to taste and is from Lucknow, hence a master of ‘what to eat’ and ‘what to see’.

After the delicious lunch we were led to a famous ‘Kulfi’ (frozen dairy dessert) shop for some yummy dessert.

Now we were all set to explore the historic monuments of Lucknow and so hired a large autorickshaw called Vikram to Bada Imambra which is also famous for its labyrinth passages called 

Bhool Bhulaiya, apart from the tombs and mosques.

The tonga beckoned to take us to Chhota Imambra which looked very pretty in the dying light.

All this exploration had our stomachs growling so off we went to Royal café for some unusual ‘Chaats’ (Chaat is a term describing savory snacks, typically served as a hors d'oeuvre) whipped up

 by the ‘Chaat King’ who also has a Facebook page and loves to interact with all his customers.

Next morning we set out for Gorakhpur but not without a visit to Chhappan Bhog for breakfast 

followed by chai at Sharma Tea stall and a brief visit to ‘The Residency’ and a short detour to the old

The Residency

Tomb of Bahu Begum - Gulab Bari

In the by lanes of Ayodhya

Awadhi capital - Faizabad (Umrao Jaan was born here) and then through the by lanes of Ayodhya. It was actually a wonderful drive made excitingly tedious by Google maps as it routed us via the shortest route through the tiny lanes of a wholesale market to OYO rooms Hotel Upvan.

The journey from Lucknow to Gorakhpur showed the versatility of road tripping by letting us visit and experience so much more than just a straight point to point trip. This is exactly where Scout My Trip helps by highlighting the points of interest on your route.

On reaching Gorakhpur we freshened up, had dinner and crashed out for the night as next morning we were off to Kathmandu in Nepal.

You can read all about it in the next post! I promise you, it will be as exciting a read for you, as it was a drive for us!