Agra: Taj Mahal most beautiful place I have ever been

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Train ride to Agra: Taj Mahal







We woke up after a good night sleep occasionally being interrupted by street dogs barking and barking. We were out the door early to catch the 7am train to Agra from Delhi. We organized with our hotel to drop us off at the south train stations. It was a little bit expensive considering it was not far, but we preferred the security of knowing a taxi will be there early than having to look for one.







I was excited to be on my first train ride and so was taking pictures of the train station surroundings and exploring a bit the station before the train left. I got some chai and a few snacks and water as well. We had second class seats so we found our seats, Kyle put our baggage overhead and strapped them in so that they could not be. The train ride was about 5 hours and the train left one hour late. We arrived to Agra around noon.







As soon as we stepped in he train we were surrounded by locals for the trip. Some sitting others standing through all the trip. Kyle baptized me on my first Indian train ride with a cup of chai from a passing vendor. We arrived in Agra at 12pm. Kyle found a very good site to check the train status at raildb.com and so we could see whether the train was late or on time.







When we got to Agra around noon we were surrounded by tuktuk and taxis our way through them to the prepaid booth. As we had paid for the taxi an older local man went with us and offered for 600Ruppees to be our guide to see sights for the day. His name was Munu and he had had a book full of written letters from previous tourists. We first went and got our hotel, which was a 5 min walk from the Taj Mahal and the hotel rooftop restaurant and incidentally our room had views of the Taj.. It was a kind of modern hotel and out room was the only one on the top and it had a rounded bed. It was quite cool!







We started our tour with Munu and his driver to the mini Taj. It was built 20 years prior and the Taj Mahal was based on the same concept and style, just on a larger more ornate scale. We went into the grounds which featured the white marble building in the middle of a garden grounds surrounded by red sandstone walls. We wandered into the grounds, going along the outside, and climbing up the wall to its corner tower. The entire building was white marble with intricate and symmetrical designs all over. The designs were largely floral, but no two sections were identical. Inside was four tomb-like rooms on the corners and four larger entrances or hallways connecting them. I was in fairy tale heaven! It was like a princess castle so white, so beautiful so surreal!! If this was the baby Taj I could not imagine how the real Taj Mahal was!







We then were driven to Agra Fort across the river. The fort was huge and full of different palaces built by different kings. We walk up the main ramp into the fort. Apparently the military occupied parts of the fort. It's rather difficult to describe the interiors of the forts because of so much history and details. The first two areas we visited were large open pruned gardens with a few resident macaques in one corner. There were lines of planted annuals and grass lawns. At the end was what looked like a white mosque but was closed to public. On the riverside the fort was more a maze of corridors, stairs leading to various rooms, temples, palaces, viewpoints, and courtyards. The next area was a viewpoint across the river to the Taj Mahal, with many varieties of birds flying around There were a few palaces and many other viewpoints as we headed from the northerly side to the south. In the southernmost side, the buildings were mostly ruins.







We headed out, found Munu and asked him to take us first to the hotel as I wasn´t feeling so good and had very bad stomach cramps. I quickly went to our room and headed straight to the bathroom and everything from snacks to the previous night dinner and chai came out both ways (sorry for the details). I took a quick shower and took some traveler´s diarrea and vomiting medicine and we headed out to a 'cheap local' restaurant for lunch, that was neither cheap nor local and it certainly was not good food and it was mainly for tourists. So disappointed! . Afterwards he took us to what was like a touristic trap place where they carved marble. The man showed us some workers doing inlays into marble that would be sold as souvenirs. He then eagerly showed us his store and we ended up buying a couple of immature Taj Mahals made of alabaster for 200 after it was originally 800. I played the ¨poor teacher backpacker attitude and so the man said ok and sold both Taj´s for 200 rupees each. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />



The next commissioned shop was in a jewelry store but neither of us was interested and even though the stones and jewels were beautiful we just weren´r interested enough and not completely sure they were authentic.







Finally we headed to the Taj Mahal, I was feeling much better, thanks God for the traveller´s diarrhea pill and was eager and happy to see the magnificent Taj Mahal!. We walked to the Eastern Gate of the Taj and there was a serious and a little over the top security check. They went through all our bags, checked inside everything and threw away all food and even tried to throw away a deck of unopened playing cards. I noticed that there was a signed by the entrance that said that the area was 0% pollution free! WOW ! We were in and the first area led to a very large red sandstone gate, and all around we're the red walls. We entered the main area and there it was, the Taj Mahal, with a couple of long waterways leading up to it giving that typical tourist 'Taj Mahal' photo taken by anyone who has been there. I simply could not believe what my eyes were seeing! It was majestic, beautiful, breathtaking! It really felt like being part of a fairy tale. All I could say was WOW WOW WOW!!!. We waited our turn to take different shots including one of me jumping of excitement o see the Taj. Then walked closer taking shots from different angles as we got nearer. People were split into the "High Importance People" (read: foreigner) and "Low Importance People" (read: Indian). lines going different ways up to the Taj. It may sound classist , but the price fee for foreigners is about double or triple the fee Indians pay. So we deserved our shorter and better line. The Taj Mahal was a majestic piece of architecture widely thought of as the most beautiful building in the world. It's made of white marble with symmetrical carved inlays all over. Again no two sections were identical, and there was precision with its symmetry and geometric shapes and floral designs. On each of the four corners stood a tall minaret with the middle being the main building. Inside the Taj Mahal was the tomb of the wife of the king that built the Taj Mahal as a tomb for his favorite wife. When we went out, the sun was starting to set so we walked around the building taking photos of the Taj and the sunset. Once it was getting dark, the soldiers with assault rifles started to round people up to kick them out of the grounds. We left quickly after sunset. It was absolutely the OST BEAUTIFUL MAJESTIC PLACE I HAVE EVER BEEN! And for me , being a dreamer, and a romantic at heart meant to so much to see it with the person I am in love , my friend, my partner my love: Kyle Hughes!

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