The Magnificent Taj Mahal

Yesterday was one of the best adventures yet in India. I planned a trip to the Taj Mahal!!!

Clockwise: Me, Julika, Chrissy, Julia, Priyanka, Sarah,
Emily (sleeping already), Michelle, and Erika

The day started at 6:30am when we loaded into a "Tempo Traveler" that I had booked online.

The driver didn't speak much/any English, so it was a tiny bit of a struggle to explain to him that we needed to pick up one of our adventure companions before heading to Agra. But he got the point across and we were off!

A map would tell you that from Delhi to Agra should take about 2.5 hours. Well, double that. It took us FOREVER to get there. Granted we did have a few pauses in the travel. There were some pit stops at gas stations (I am actually diggin' the Eastern style toilet now), and a run in with a monkey/owner.

There is a scam type thing where men have adorable monkeys on leashes and teach them to do tricks. Well, we were stopped on the highway as the driver was dealing with some road tax stuff, and a monkey-guy came next to the car. One of my travel companions decided she wanted to take a picture of the adorable money as she (the monkey) was hanging onto the side of the van with a baby monkey in her arm. That was a mistake. The guy immediately started demanding 100 Rupees. And when I say demanded, I mean he and his friends were banging on the windows and the side of the van, opening a window and putting his hands through and yelling at us about money. Luckily the doors were locked and just as we were getting super uncomfortable with the situation the driver came back and we bolted away down the bumpy highway again.

When we finally got to Agra, we were starving. Our "guide" who was a part of the taxi service, had us go to a place with "Continental" food cause we said "no Indian please!" Thats all we've been eating, so it was time for a break. During lunch it began to rain. We didn't want to postpone going to the Taj so we decided to just tough it out and head on over.

In an attempt to protect the Taj from pollution, no gas/CNG vehicles are allowed near the property. So you park far away and then electric cars take you to the gates. There are also some camels towing carts, but we opted for the cars.

We paid our IR750 (about USD15), avoided some ginormous puddles, got patted down, and got our bags checked and BAM! We were inside the main red walls of the Taj.

The Great Gate. The building you walk through to get to the Tomb.
The red wall that you can see extending from either side of the Gate Building wraps forward (towards where I took the picture from), and there are little archways and a roof/awnings for the entire length of the red sandstone wall.

As soon as we were done being frisked (a very normal occurrence when going to popular places in India) the rain started really coming down. We sought refuge under the roof of the red walls to see if the rain would stop. It didn't.

We scurried from our spot in the wall around the lawn and squeezed into the Gate Building. This is where you look up above the heads of all of the short Indians and tourists and you are breathless and amazed at the sight you see through the archway.

You can't really tell from the picture, but the sheer size is what hits you first.

It was so rainy that there was a kind of water screen in front of us.

A few of us decided to just brave the rain and venture outside.

But then the rain turned from drops to absolute torrential downpour. We ran up the walkways and into the right side (not in this picture) mosque. There are mosques on either side to help weigh down the floating marble platform that the Tomb (the main white building) sits on. Because the location had experienced a horrible earthquake, the architects planned the platform so there would be less of a chance of it being destroyed. The four minarets are also constructed with a slight lean away from the Tomb so in the case of an earthquake or it they collapsed because they are so tall, they wouldn't affect the Tomb.

The rain just wouldn't let up! I was getting antsy in the mosque and my Oregonian-love-of-rain took over. I decided to go out and dance a bit in front (really the side) of the Tomb.

The scale is so hard to capture. If you see those little dark specs at the base of the Tomb, those are people walking around (in the rain). The carved arches on the base are taller than me.

Because the rain wasn't letting up, we decided to make our way up to the Tomb.

You can't wear your shoes on the marble, so you either have to take them off or put shoes covers on.

When I first made it up the stairs (so much pushing and crowding because no one wanted to be in the rain) I was separated from the three other girls I was with. So, I decided to seek refuge in one of the archways of the Tomb so I could see them when they came up.

To the right is us (our fourth adventurer, Julika, was taking the picture). Here you can see our glamourous shoe covers, the intricate carvings, and the amazing inlays. You also might notice how soaking wet we are.

My sweatshirt is usually a medium colored forrest green, and it was practically black (like my leggings) from all of the rain.

Once we had all recovered from the stairway experience and also taken photos with some of the Indian men sharing our archway (they wanted a full group shot with us girls in between each of them, and each guy wanted a picture with me ... very strange) we decided to make our way to the entrance to the Tomb.

Some of the detail at the entrance to the Tomb.

Don't get me wrong, the inside of the Tomb is cool, but the outside is so much more impressive and interesting than the inside. You could almost visit the Taj without going inside, you wouldn't be missing much. However, I did really like walking around inside and touching all of the carvings and the inlays. It was a really cool feeling to know that I was touching carvings that were made 400 years ago.

When we got out of the Tomb, it was still raining.

This is the crowd at the top of the stairs to the Tomb. You can also see the downpour of rain.
These people were not very Oregonian, they were all using umbrellas.
I wasn't the best Oregonian either through I suppose because I didn't have a raincoat.

There was so much water that even the grounds were flooding.
Eye-spy: The little planters at the center of the "ground" are under the water.

Me (soaking wet) at the Taj!

The nine of us met back up at the Great Gate before heading back to the van. We were completely  soaked (see the "white" pants some of the girls are wearing are now see-through) but being there was an absolutely incredible experience.

On the van ride home.
Notice the new colors in the van now?

Once we got back to the van we decided buying some dry clothes was VERY necessary. The tour guide first took us to this expensive place where we refused to buy anything. So then we found a cheeper place and we all bought some clothes.

We stopped for some food and a bathroom before we left Agra and then we were off, back to Delhi.

The drive home was quite uneventful. We had major girl bonding (aka chatting, gossiping, laughing) but besides that there was no unusual activity. We stopped for the restroom a few times (us girls have small bladders) and a cup of hot coffee/tea/coco and got home around 11pm.

It was an absolutely fantastic day. Some people (like my host dad) expressed their disappointment for us that it was raining when we were there, but I think the rain made the experience better than it would have been otherwise. If it had been sunny I would have simply looked and admired the Taj. But because it was raining, I sought refuge in it. I took the time to really look at the details, be very present in the moments and find the "little" spaces of the Taj that could protect me from the rain. I felt I got to know the Taj in a way that I wouldn't have otherwise - if I had just been "visiting" it.

The Taj Mahal was absolutely magical. I am so glad we made the trip!