Taj Mahal

We arrived at the entrance before the sun rose at 6am. The gates opened at 6:15 so we were near the front of the queue to beat the crowds. Then we had to go through a security check where we had to leave Fred behind because he was a terrorist threat! So sorry Fred, this is one place you can’t see. How beautiful can a mausoleum get? The Taj Mahal is as beautiful in real life as all the hype says it is. The Taj Mahal is elegant, beautiful, gorgeous, stunning, graceful, exquisite, divine, and beauteous in every way (reminds me of Jody! ha ha), this building can’t be described in words you just have to see how stunning it really is and why people talk about it so much. The view of the Taj Mahal renders you speechless as your eyes take it all in and you can see why they say it is the world’s most romantic building. The grounds were quite empty of people so giving us the perfect photographs. A lot of the people there were Indian tourists and against the stark white of the building, the ladies saarees looked so colourful. After about 8am the Taj Mahal grounds were packed full of tourists and it was hard to get a clear photo of the Taj Mahal without getting hoards of people in the photo. We wandered about the gardens for an hour, the water in the pools giving a reflection of the Taj Mahal, the towers catching the pink morning sun light on them. The marble is inlayed with delicate ornate precious stones that just takes the mausoleum to the next level of beauty. All this was built out of love by Emperor Shah Jahan in 1631 for his favourite wife who died giving birth to their 14th child. It was such a shame that his wife could not see such a beautiful building that he made for her. We put on our “Off On Our Own” T-shirts and got our photos taken for the album. We finally left the Taj Mahal around 9am as the grounds were getting really busy. We headed back to where our driver dropped us off but on the way we were bombarded with young children hawkers. Bryan succumbed and bought 7 elephant key rings, all for £1.50 (Christmas stocking presents), Jody was offered a fridge magnet for £10, she got really cross with the boy as he was being just plain greedy and she walked away. Back to the car and back for breakfast before heading off to Fatehsur Sikir 35km away. All in all it was a lovely experience and we highly recommend it if you are travelling to India.