Taj Mahal

The big one.

Bright and early the next morning we met up with our personal taxi driver. We had a four hour drive to Agra ahead of us. Kindly, our hostel packed us each a brown bag breakfast to eat in the car.

The scenes on either side of the car were interesting to behold. At one point we stopped at what seemed to be a mandatory bathroom break place for all tourist drivers (or maybe it was a checkpoint?). How uncomfortable to be in a stopped car without your driver as men selling bracelets and baubles approach your window. Not to mention the monkeys. Poor poor monkeys. Monkeys on leashes are trained to jump on the side of cars to give each tourist a thrill. I just felt sad.

About midday we approached Agra which was full of traffic and visitors despite being 47 degrees Celsius (117F). It was a slow crawl in the taxi to the entrance of the Taj Mahal. As our driver walked us up to the ticket booth we passed camels, horses, and bicycle rickshaws all offering their means of transport. Motored vehicles are banned from getting too close to the Taj in an effort to minimize discoloration caused by air pollution.

Finally, we entered to see the classic sight.

Unfortunately, there were a whack load of tourists. Of course, I’d assume there were less tourists visiting in June than during the cooler months… so maybe it wasn’t so bad.

After taking a few photos and visiting the restroom, we ventured closer to the mausoleum. [ I kept having to remind myself that it was constructed in the 1600s. Incredible.

Unfortunately, entering the mausoleum requires the visitor to deposit their shoes at the door. Um… I’m just going to say marble + 117 degree heat = pain. We were moving as quickly as possible through the throngs of tourists. It was like walking on coals. In a kind gesture, carpets were laid down to make the barefooted walk more bearable. Too bad the carpets were only degrees cooler than the marble itself. Ouch. For sure.

Too bad for the heat because the gardens surrounding the Taj would be a nice place to sit and relax. It did get me thinking of A Passage to India, I must admit. But alas, we had empty stomachs to fill and more to see in Agra.

xo, jill