Humayun's Tomb

After a little break and a curry pizza, after a long day of walking through Delhi in the heat, after a long day of travel and a healthy dose of jetlag, I almost didn't get back up. Almost. My initial plan was to walk to Humayun's Tomb. I had been once before, but with only thirty minutes before they closed and being part of a group didn't leave me a lot of time. In fact, as I recall, I didn't even bring my big boy camera with me - just a phone. 

After typing that out, I got curious. Searching my library, it looks like it was September 26, 2004 when I visited with my trusty iPhone 5s. I can confirm that I stupidly only took that phone, entering at 5:38pm, and ushered out by the guards at 6:21pm. It was the last day of a long trip, and our group dispersed before I continued on to the north solo. While I hadn't linked that last part in my mind (it almost felt like two separate trips), I am quite impressed that my memory is as accurate to what the data says.

  

Since that visit, I have always regretted only taking my phone. It wound up being an absolutely perfect evening for shooting. Few people remained as it was near closing and the soft evening light bathed everything in a warm, hazy glow. The fountain was also out of commission - either turned off or broken, allowing me to get a perfect reflection in one of the viewing ponds.

It was these memories, this regret, that got me to get out of a comfortably air conditioned hotel room, and into a cab. It was too late and I was too beat to walk the distance, but I'm glad I rallied. It wasn't a hugely different experience visiting this time around. I did have a little longer to leisurely explore more of the grounds, but with more people around, more adamant guards and perhaps a preconceived idea of what I would see, many of my images surprisingly ended up very similar. Of course, this time they were captured with exceedingly high quality - but as the saying goes, the best camera is the one you have with you. Luckily, I had my Leica M11.