Taj Mahal

An example of the marble screens that make up the Taj Mahal.



Closeup of the inlaid marble and semi-precious stones that are knowns as "pietra dura."



A view of the Taj Mahal from the Red Fort, another monument in Agra.



Inside the Oberoi Amar Vilas resort. This was our first sighting of the Taj and it did give me goosebumps.



It was an overcast day, but this picture is still stunning.



This would be a fine picture except for the little blurry spot. Who knows where that came from, but there is nothing I can do it about it now :(


Well, we finally have seen the famous Taj Mahal. Even now, I can't say that I've got all the facts straight, so to supplement the commentary, I will add facts and figures from the Lonely Planet.

First, we took the train from Delhi to Agra. That was an adventure in itself. The train departed at 6 am and that meant we had to get up at 4 am. Ouch. The train station was busy even at 5 am, but we were supervised by our Delhi driver. He waited for us to get on the train, which was nice. We were served non-stop on the 2 hour and 15 minute train ride. First, a newspaper. Then some bottled water. Then tea. After that, breakfast. Then more tea. In between all the services were the collection of the used bits too. So I don't think we would have slept, even if we wanted to. The train moved quickly and most of the pictures I got were blurry.

Our arrival in Agra was smooth. We were met by our driver Mahesh, who would be our driver for the next 10 days. He took us straight to the area around the Taj Mahal. This area is also a non-polluting zone, so we decided to be dropped off at the Oberoi hotel called Amar Vilas. This is a fantastic place, if you can afford it. We used the toilets, took a look around, and used their electric golf carts to get us as close as a vehicle can get to the Taj. We walked through a street of vendors trying to sell us batteries, memory sticks, and postcards. Then we arrived at the entry ticket gate.

Feel like guessing how much it would cost you to see the world-famous Taj Mahal with your very own eyes? I hope you enjoy the pictures, because they cost us a small fortune. If we were Indians, we would get in for 20 rupees. That's about 50 cents, US. Our tourist price per person was only 750 rupees. That's more like $20 US. Wow!

Now for the history lesson: construction of the Taj began in 1631 and was finished in 1653. It was built for the Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial for his second wife, who died in childbirth of their 14th child. It's really just a very large mausoleum. Very large and very impressive...

The day we were there was overcast and cool. We arrived early enough in the morning because of our handy train. This was probably the best way for us to go, as it wasn't very crowded when we were there. We were told over 20,000 people visit the Taj Mahal every day. What a thrill.

Just so you know, the Taj is closed on Fridays. In case you were planning to visit yourselves!