From Delhi to Agra and Visiting the Graceful, Wonderful and Awe-inspiring Taj Mahal

Leaving crazy Delhi and it's constant drone of blaring horns with people in your face hawking something was a welcome relief.  We were happy that we were headed to a smaller town where we thought things would be a bit more tranquil and slow. And we were looking forward to seeing the Mausoleum that a broken hearted king built for his love.

The train ride from Delhi to Agra was quite good.  We ended up chatting with two gentlemen during the two hour trip (one of whom was making a 30 hour  train trip with his family to Chennai!).  They asked us about our impressions of India, which is a common question you are asked while traveling throughout the country.  We also talked about the level of corruption that exists in India and we assured them that although it doesn't seem as though the US has as much obvious corruption as India, there are many back room deals being made between the politicians and businesses.  And one of the gentlemen asked me what I thought about the US killing bin Laden.  Paul wisely turned the conversation to Gandhi and asked them when we will have another Mahatma to lead this great country.

After the train pulled into Agra, we hopped into the hotel car waiting for us and moved onto the Hotel Taj Resorts.  Things were looking good, until we got up to room.  Immediately we could smell this toxic paint odor, so we asked to switch rooms.  Unfortunately, the other room had the same odor, so we stayed put.  Then we wanted to take a shower, and the water was very cold.  We called the front desk and asked if there was an issue with the hot water, to which the nice lady on the phone replied, "you want hot water?".  "Yes please", I said.  She turned on the hot water heater and let us know that it should be warm in about 15 minutes.  I wasn't particularly clear if we needed to have this conversation through the rest of our stay at the "resort".  What was clear was that the water wasn't particularly clean water - it had a saline quality to it, so my skin had a tacky feeling to it during our stay.  Having said that, when it comes right down to it, one needs to adapt and get on with it!

So, since we were settled in our room, had a shower, and a bit of dinner, we decided to turn in for an early nights sleep so that we could get to the Taj Mahal first thing in the morning!

To say that we were excited was an understatement.  Paul had been here before and he was looking forward to sharing this experience with me.  I couldn't wait to see this wonder with him!  

Walking in, I could hardly wait to see it and when we finally saw the Taj Mahal, it took my breathe away...literally.  It's every bit as spectacular, pristine, poetic, and lovely as you would expect.  And the real magic of it is that as you get closer and closer to it, the details reveal themselves in some surprising ways.  The decorative glass and stone inlays and carvings in the marble are impressive. There are herringbone details in the marble that I never knew existed and passages from the Qur'an are beautifully inscribed on the exterior of the building. India should be very proud of the level of attention they have given to the Taj to keep it in such great shape. 

We left with a warm glow in our hearts (kinda like ET!), and we felt very lucky and grateful to be able to come here and experience the Taj together.  

We moved onto Agra Fort where the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (who built the Taj Mahal) was put under house arrest by his son.  To be honest though...if you had to be imprisoned anywhere, you would want this to be the place. Talk about country club prisons! Having said that, if you know the history the real tourture was that the king could see the Taj from his window, but was never allowed to visit it again while he was living (very sad). He was ultimately laid to rest next to his wife, which I guess is some small consolation.

And finally on the next day, we moved onto Fatehpur Sikri which is a lost or forgotten city that was built and then abandoned by the king (this is a recurring theme throughout our travels...kings abandoning cities/temples/ect...).  Water supply problems led to abandonment in this case, as legend has it anyways!  This city was also incredibly well restored, with beautiful gardens and amazing details throughout the property.  Paul especially liked the squirrels!  He had them eating right out of his hand...literally.

As an aside, I thought the public grievance areas we saw in several palaces were interesting.  For better or for worse, I couldn't stop thinking about Festivus (from the show, Seinfeld) and the ceremonial "airing of the grievances".  Anyways, besides that, it must have been quite a grievance if you were able to stand in front of the king, who is high upon his throne looking down on you in a great space.

We set off for Jaipur the next day, wondering what the trip ahead had in store for us.