Taj Mahal

The day has finally come, when I get to Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal! I left Jaipur in the late morning and made my way, by bus to Agra. The usual hostel searching was done upon arrival and I found a nice hostel, close to the Taj entrance gate.

Once I had settled in and taken a much needed shower - as is always the case in India - I went out to find some dinner on a rooftop at sunset with a view of the Taj Mahal. It's quite a nice thing to be able to do! Dinner was nice, I learnt how to play an Indian game - I don't know the name, and I'm horrible at it - then went back to the hostel with the intention of going to bed. Once there, however, I met a nice Canadian couple and ended up going out for dinner with them again. We spent the evening together, exchanging stories and then headed back to the hostel, I with the full intention of getting up at 5 a.m. to go see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. 

I didn't quite make 5 a.m., but did get to the Taj Mahal before the first rays of sun hit the building itself, at around 5.45 a.m. (quite impressive I think). The Taj Mahal, like many buildings, cannot be fully appreciated until seen in reality. It's huge! The symmetry of the architecture is amazing and the detailed decorative designs are really impressive. I was not expecting to be so awestruck by the Taj, especially after having seen so many pictures and heard so many accounts of visits there; surprisingly it is a building that does not fail to live up to its expectations.

The pillars of the Taj, when looking straight at it, are built slanted slightly away from the main part of the mausoleum; this was done as a precaution, in case there is an earthquake, then the pillars will fall outwards and not onto the main building itself.

I stayed in the complex until about 9 a.m., watching the sun rise over the Taj. It was such a serene experience! The added bonus being that the masses did not come to the Taj before 9.am., so there were really a maximum of 30 (?) people there when I first arrived. 

I returned to the hostel, rested for a while and then went to have breakfast where we somehow grew to a substantial group of people and we spent most of the day hanging out together. 

A group of us went to see the Agra fort also - which was quite nice, and after that went to grab some beers on a rooftop overlooking the Taj. We then ended up having dinner all together, had another drink and then all parted ways (some taking the night trains, others having to catch early morning trains/buses). I was off in the morning on a train to Jhansi, and from there to Orccha - a small village where I intend to sleep a lot.