August 27th and 28th: Taj Mahal and more

Taj Mahal

Saturday, August 27th

The beautiful view from our rooftop during breakfast

We woke up today tired from our late night, but very excited to finally see the Taj Mahal. The morning started with breakfast on the roof of our hotel, which had an amazing view of the Taj Mahal. The location of our hotel turned out to be perfect with the view and being only 600 meters from the Taj Mahal East Gate. Our tour guide, Issi, picked us up at 9:30, grabbed our tickets and then led us in the Taj Mahal. We were all so excited and the Taj Mahal was even more amazing than we expected. As soon as we had the Taj in view, we started taking pictures and didn't stop until we left two hours later.
As we walked down along the empty reflection pool, our tour guide began to share with us the history of the Taj Mahal. The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in honor of his wife, Mumtaz Mahal, who died during the birth of their fourteenth child. He was so heart broken he decided to build the Taj Mahal as a memorial and resting place for her. It took twenty two years to build, along with an estimated 22,000 laborers and 1,000 elephants.  Walking up to the beautiful mausoleum, one of the seven wonders of the world, was surreal. Once inside we got a closer look at the marble, which was extremely intricate and decorated with an array of colorful stones. Our tour guide took out a flashlight and held it against the colorful stones in the marble. Because it was so dark inside the Taj Mahal, the flashlight lit up the marble causing the stones to glow. From behind the Taj Mahal we could see a cleared area where Emperor Shah Jahan had started to build the Black Taj Mahal, but was arrested by his son for his extreme spending used to build the Taj Mahal before he could start it.

Rachael and Alison with one of the people
who asked to take a picture with them

One of the experiences we found entertaining while at the Taj Mahal were all the Indian men, women and children who asked to take pictures with us. This seems to be a common occurrence when foreigners visit the Taj Mahal, but we liked to think we were special :)

Alsion, Rachael, Sarah and Andrea in front of the beautiful Taj Mahal

Our salesman at the marble factory with some of the workers

After reluctantly leaving the Taj Mahal, our tour guide took us to a marble shop. We got to see the marble workers in action working on various pieces. After watching the workers and seeing some of beautifully finished pieces, we each purchased something special as a memory of the Taj Mahal and Agra. 

Agra Fort

We then went to Agra Fort. When Emperor Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his own son, Aurangzeb, he was sent to the fort and looked on from afar to the Taj Mahal, where his beautiful wife was buried. The Agra Fort was large and had a two tiered moat- one dry, one wet. The dry one held tigers and predators, while the wet one held crocodiles to fend off intruders. There is still an army presence at the fort and we could only explore what India has sectioned off as a historical society site. Then we went to Itimad Du  Daulah or "Baby Taj." The "Baby Taj"  looks over the River Ganges, a holy river. It was very warm in the afternoon and we looked out over the large river to see two figures waving at us,  enjoying an afternoon swim.   

Rachael, Andrea, Sarah and Alison relaxing in a doorway
at Agra Fort

Rachael, Andrea and Alison relaxing at the "Baby Taj"

Itimad Du Daulah, or "Baby Taj"

Andrea and Alison enjoying the view of the River Ganges

    













We finished up our exploration of Agra and ate on our hotel rooftop restaurant with a beautiful view of the Taj.

Our view at dinner of the Taj Mahal from our rooftop

Sunday, August 28th

Today was another one of our big travel days. We woke up early to meet our driver and start our 3-5 hour, depending on traffic, drive from Agra to New Delhi. Along the way we stopped to take a break and accidentally found the India version of Wal-Mart. We were so excited to see familiar brands and snacks, we each bought more snacks than we could fit in our bags. We arrived at the New Delhi airport, which was very large and modern, with enough time to wonder around and grab something to eat.

Within a few minutes of being inside the airport, we spotted the famous golden arches and quickly made our way to McDonald's for lunch. After trying the delicious veggie burgers, which are not available in the US, we made our way to the gate. Our flight was two and a half hours back to Chennai and on arrival we were picked up again by another driver. We met up with Marjorie after being picked up and went out for dinner at a delicious Indian restaurant and celebrated her birthday. After we ate and discussed our wonderful and eventful weekends, we got back in the car and headed for the Chennai train station.

Rachael, Sarah, Alison and Andrea getting settled in the train before bed

After searching for a few minutes, we found our sleeper car and seats. None of us, except for Marjorie, had been on a train in India before, so we were not sure what to expect. We had our own area, which was hidden by a curtain, that had two bunk-beds with sheets, pillows, and blankets supplied through the train. After our long day of traveling, we changed into more comfortable clothes and applying ear plugs and sleep masks, we got settled in and quickly fell asleep for the night.