The Taj

I never thought I would see the Taj Mahal. It isn't that I didn't want to see it, I just never thought I would, but 2 weeks ago there I was. Stranger things have happened, but I still kind of can't believe that I've been.

Someone had told me, not sure who, that it was best to visit the Taj either at sunrise or sunset because it seems to change color with the changing light (see how it is kind of pink-ish above). I chose first thing in the morning because in my experience at any popular monuments/museums, etc., if you get there first thing you avoid the crowds and I had heard that the crowds at the Taj could be a bit overwhelming. So at 8 a.m. just as the sun came up, we headed over. I had also heard that you should hire a guide there so we did...well, he kind of just joined us and I said "who are you" and when I found out he was a guide I hired him and he was worth every rupee (I say that as a joke because he cost us about $12).
Anyway, the Taj does live up to the hype. For those that don't know, it is a tomb (and if you think that is weird to have such a big tomb remember, the pyramids are tombs too). I'm not going to go into all of the details about it since I could talk for ages about how beautiful it is, but I will say that if you ever go there, try to get there first thing; as we were leaving 2 hours later I could see the number of people increasing and imagine that it could get a bit overwhelming; during our visit the number of people was fine and it really does seem to change colors from a pink to a yellow, etc., etc., and definitely hire a guide, it really helps to improve the experience. I took about a million pictures there and thought I would add a photo at the bottom of the marble carving (with a bit of inlay). While the marble inlay work was spectacular, these carvings really blew my mind. Basically they would take a huge slab of marble and carve these flower designs into them. They are all over the Taj and are really beautiful and it is just amazing to think that all of these were carved by hand, especially when you see how symmetrical they are, one mistake and you have to start over. Unfortunately you couldn't take photos inside the Taj because some of the marble inlay work on the inside is truly breathtaking.
After the Taj we did a little bit of shopping right outside and then hopped back into our car (or rather, ran into the car as we were immediately surrounded by what felt like 100 people trying to sell us things, it was probably only 10 of them but it felt like more), and we were off to more adventures.
Given the fact that I feel like I've already written an essay today I'll leave the rest of the day for tomorrow's post.