Taj Mahal.

Sunday was TM (Taj Mahal) day. If you're planning on going to see the TM it's best you take the Shatabdi express from New Delhi which leaves 0615 and takes about two hours and costs about 800 rupees 1 way, 1st class aircon seated. I was a disorganised traveller and had my passport caught up in the Iranian visa system so I paid for a private taxi and tour guide instead which included return taxi from my hotel, a guide for the day, VIP entry to TM, Agra Fort, and some other garden I can't remember the name of, all fuel and toll costs, and lunch.

If you choose to drive there, you'll go via the Yamuna expressway which is new whizz bang amaze roads by Indian standards. The road itself is quite new, but you can't escape that you are still in India. Every few kms you'll see men peeing openly on the side of the road, livestock grazing on the divider, kids sitting on the barrier staring at traffic go by, and farms all along the way. When I stopped at a rest-stop I was gazing upwards and looking at the steel beams which support the roofs, and noticed all the welds were horrible and the steel plates had been cut by hand with an oxy torch. That's kinda like cutting a slice of cheese with a blunt axe. I guess TII( This Is India) where you only do what you need to and nothing more.

If you pay the general admin entry then you have to join the long ass queue with all the NIPs (Non-important people) and doing that in the Indian sun is likely to darken your skin a few shades and/or give you melanomas which nobody really wants. Entry costs to the TM and other thingies is 750 rupees for foreigners (locals pay 20, thanks for nothing). Besides the main monuments in Agra there is pretty much nothing else to do there, so it is definitely a day trip. Beware of all the 'touts' (aka annoying humans) trying to sell you their photography/wares.

Anyway, once there, its kinda beautiful and majestic. Well actually it truly is. The TM was built by a bloke named Shah Jahan (whose full name is A'la Azad Abul Muzaffar Shahab ud-Din Mohammad Khurram) in memory of his wife who died giving birth to her billionth child. Pretty sweet huh? The detailing on the marble work is bloody amazing and it took 20 000 workers 22 years to complete. I couldn't find any official stats on how many people died in the process; probably a lot considering OH&S was a 21st century thing. There's a big emphasis on symmetry with everything lining up on both sides quite well. The 4 towers on each corner are leaning slightly outwards, the guide said this is "clever engineering" because if it ever falls it will not fall on the main building. I'm still confused about whether we should consider that clever or incomplete engineering.

 

Humans ruin every photo! I couldn't push them all out of the way so I had to settle for this.

 

 

My guide took this photo and told me to jump, he didn't time the shot very well. I'm just waiting for the rockets to fire out of my butt and I fly away.

 

 

It was stifling hot and humid, the sun has an aggression about it around here, especially as it reflects off the white marble. I really wanted to stand with my hands down but I thought I'd be a good sport and look like a tourist.

 

 

This was pretty cool, reminds me of microscopic photography of cells/ deep sea creatures.

 

 

These were carved out from single pieces of red sandstone, without CNC machines man. It was all done by hand. Madness!!

 

 

Great place to get married or have a nap.

 

 

These adorable kids wanted to take a photo with the foreigner (they're all laughing that I had to pay 750rupees and they got in for free, being under 15).

 

 

Guide: do this, point that way.

Me: ok, here.

Guide: *click*

 

 

These mini-squirrel like creatures are so cute. My dog would love to eat one.

 

 

All in all a great day, TM is a beautiful monument that would be truly beautiful at dusk or dawn. I'm usually not too big on monuments but this was pretty cool. I loved the attention to detail in the inlay and marble work and the overall structure truly deserves its status as a wonder of the world. I'd highly recommend others see it but best to do so in the cooler times.