Agra
VISIT The Taj Mahal
Julio
We arrived in Agra on New Year's Eve. As we drove in, it was evident this may be one of the most unsightly cities in India. When we arrived at the hotel (which was literally a brand new building in the middle of a garbage dump), the overeager staff advised us not to go outside because it was unsafe for foreigners tonight. Lovely.
We stayed in, ordered room service and happily watched Casablanca which happened to be on. The smell of burning rubber and garbage would waft in from time to time but the evening was quite enjoyable, all things considered.
In the morning we left early to greet the uninvited fog and slightly less visible Taj Mahal. As a westerner one gets to skip the lines of thousands waiting to get in, but this is made more reasonable by the fact that locals pay sixty cents and we pay $15 admission. Here's the ticketing information on the Taj Mahal in case you're interested. The Taj for me was…meh. SO much more to incredible India than this in my opinion. In my view there is more wonder in an Indian traffic jam than the marble behemoth. Definitely to be seen in one's lifetime though and the romantic story helps.
Indians on the tourist rack can be major channel jackers. You think you are going to one place and then you end up on a circuit of locations to help you part with your dollars of which the guides, drivers or rickshaw operators receive a commission when you arrive or spend. This being the case, we also visited a studio where inlay done in semi precious stones, similar to what is seen in the Taj and it was interesting to watch and learn about.
Christina had a major retail therapy moment. I was dying to get out of there kind of tired of the constant hustling.
christina
The architecture, size and magnificence of the Taj Mahal is totally worth seeing and an incredible sight but for me I think it was ruined by seeing some other things in this vast country first. It's so hard to write this because I had such great hopes for this visit but after our adventure to Mehendipur Balaji yesterday it seemed like the antithesis of the Indian spirit and passion that we've come to love. What I do want to mention though is the beautiful artisanal carvings on the walls inside the buildings. They are so intricate and the patterns were outstanding and memorable. Made of various precious and semi-precious stones at the time, this inlay tradition continues on in Agra by craftsmen. We were able to visit a shop where they do this marble work and though I told myself we wouldn't buy anything I just couldn't help it - it was so beautiful and I'm glad we did even though it was a bit of a splurge. We later saw these items for sale throughout India so I was happy that we could support local artists there.
