India - Day 3

Today was our trek from Delhi to Agra and back in one day so we could visit the infamous Taj Mahal. The vehicle we had that day was more roomy – it was called a Force, which is similar to a small shuttle bus with 10 seats in the states.


We had a quick cold breakfast at the hotel and left around 7am to head to Agra. We wanted to try and get out early to avoid some of the crowds that would be at the Taj. It was foggy that morning (like it usually is in Delhi during the winter) so that made driving more difficult for the driver.

We experienced a few interesting things on the way there. We witnessed our first accident in India and it happened right in front of us! The car in front of us rear-ended the car in front of them. And they just kind of went on their way without it being a big deal. We also had to stop at the state line so the driver could talk with the authorities. While we were waiting, there were some people trying to sell items and there were also monkeys that were dressed up and on leashes. One of them decided to hop up on the teeny tiny window ledge (on the outside) right behind Rachelle, which of course startled her – we called that monkey “Jumper Monkey” :)

After making one stop at the “tourist stop” (which has ‘normal’ bathrooms) along the way, we finally met up with our tour guide for the Taj about 5 hours later! It was a long ride with us running into traffic and also passing through a bunch of smaller villages, which was cool to see. We were so glad to be at the Taj Mahal!

After getting inside, it was absolutely amazing! The Taj and the grounds around it are so beautiful and the crowds that day were also crazy. We eventually made our way from the gate up to the Taj, which is where we joined the end of the line. There was a huge line to go up the stairs to the elevated part and then there was also a line to walk through it. We had to wait a little while but it was well worth - we said it would have been silly to travel all that way and then say that we didn't feel like standing in line! So we got to walk around the Taj and also go inside to look at the beautiful marble and stone work inside. Some interesting facts about the Taj that we found out:
- there are 22 domes on top of the entrance gate - one for each year that it took to build the Taj!
- each of the 4 towers next to the Taj are pitched 2.5 degrees to the outside - 1 to each side and 2 to the back
- construction started in 1631 and was finished in 1653 (if I remember right) making the building about 360 years old!
- architectural design comes from Muslim and Hindu influences
- fountains are fed from the river behind the Taj
- on a night with a full moon, the Taj glows like a diamond
- the white marble is non-porous

After leaving the Taj Mahal, we noticed that the line to get through the gate was so long...much longer than when we entered. There were just tons of people everywhere! We finally caught back up with our driver and stopped at a place to do some shopping. This shop specialized in making pieces of the same marble used on the Taj Mahal. We even had the chance to see how they make the pieces, which was really neat. So everyone found something they wanted and Chris and I also went upstairs to look at their shawls/scarves, which were really pretty. We were eventually on our way (those Indian salesman are ruthless, trying to sell you everything in the store), which was good because we probably had another 5 hours ahead of us and it was already after 5pm.

It was a fairly quiet ride home because everyone's heads were bobbing (everyone was sleeping). We stopped at the tourist stop again. We got some drinks and a snack - a bunch of us got 'hot milk chocolate' which we were a little suspicious about (but thankfully ended up not making us sick). There was still a lot of traffic and it didn't help that the driver got us lost when we got back to Delhi. We were probably driving around for an extra hour! So we arrived back to the hotel after midnight. It made for an extremely long day, but it was well worth it. We got to see the Taj Mahal, which is one of the seven wonders of the world!