One cool thing that I got to do this past weekend in India, and that many people would love to do is visit the Taj Mahal. It's like seeing the Eiffel Tower in France, or the Colosseum in Italy, or the Great Wall of China--it's a landmark that most kids can even identify, but a landmark that's always seemed so foreign and far away. And here I was, going to see it.
We set off after lunch. It was probably close to 100 degrees outside, so we tried to wait until it was a little cooler in the afternoon. We had our trusty Indiana cab driver take us there, but they can only get within a couple of kilometers, as they're limiting traffic to the Taj Mahal. Over more recent years, pollution from industry and vehicles have been darkening the Taj's signature bright white color, so they're trying to minimize damage by keeping cars away.
To my delight, that meant that we got to take an alternative form of transportation to the Taj Mahal itself. Rickshaw, horse, carriage, camel carriage...
Well, which would you choose?
Duh, camel carriage!
Our camel, whose name happened to be Bubloo, took us within walking distance of the Taj. I have to say, it's hella cool to ride by camel, but it's quite bumpy. Or should I say humpy??
From where our camel dropped us, we still had quite a hike to the Taj Mahal itself. As you approach, you hit a beautiful pink and white building, and as you near that, you can start to see the Taj through a tunnel in that building. When you enter, they make you go through a metal detector, and then each person is individually screened (side note--this happens everywhere in India, including shopping malls). They confiscate any food, beverages or gum that you have--they want to protect the site. I was super proud of myself that I was able to hide my pack of gum and therefore allow for plenty of chewing later in the day.
So we were through security, and all of a sudden, there we were: in front of the Taj Mahal. It is impressive. It's huge, and very white and imposing. There were about a thousand other people there, all taking pictures. We must have taken a million photos, and I don't really know what I'm going to do with all of them! Just like anywhere you go, you have to take funny pictures of the monument. At the Leaning Tower of Pisa, you take pictures where you pretend to hold it up. And here, you take "Tiny Taj" pictures. For instance:
And here are some other fun photos for you:
I'm sure that most people know this, but the Taj Mahal is actually a tomb that was designed by a grieving king for his wife who had died. You can go inside the Taj Mahal to continue touring. Since this is a Muslim mosque, you must remove your shoes before entering. Actually, here is something interesting. In India, there are always 2 entry prices: one for locals, and one for foreigners. It's about 20 rupees for foreigners, 750 for foreigners. I think this is completely fair, as it allows them to collect revenue from the "richer" tourists and keeps these beautiful monuments accessible to their own citizens. Anyway, I mention that because your 750 rupees as a foreigner also gets you free shoe covers, so you don't have to take off your shoes if you don't want to. However, it felt so sinful (complete irony here) to walk around barefoot in this mosque, so I went shoeless.
Interesting vignette: all 22,000 workers who toiled for 21 years to create the Taj Mahal were rewarded by having their hands chopped off so they could never build anything as beautiful again.
And that's my adventure at the Taj Mahal!
We set off after lunch. It was probably close to 100 degrees outside, so we tried to wait until it was a little cooler in the afternoon. We had our trusty Indiana cab driver take us there, but they can only get within a couple of kilometers, as they're limiting traffic to the Taj Mahal. Over more recent years, pollution from industry and vehicles have been darkening the Taj's signature bright white color, so they're trying to minimize damage by keeping cars away.
To my delight, that meant that we got to take an alternative form of transportation to the Taj Mahal itself. Rickshaw, horse, carriage, camel carriage...
Well, which would you choose?
Duh, camel carriage!
Our camel, whose name happened to be Bubloo, took us within walking distance of the Taj. I have to say, it's hella cool to ride by camel, but it's quite bumpy. Or should I say humpy??
From where our camel dropped us, we still had quite a hike to the Taj Mahal itself. As you approach, you hit a beautiful pink and white building, and as you near that, you can start to see the Taj through a tunnel in that building. When you enter, they make you go through a metal detector, and then each person is individually screened (side note--this happens everywhere in India, including shopping malls). They confiscate any food, beverages or gum that you have--they want to protect the site. I was super proud of myself that I was able to hide my pack of gum and therefore allow for plenty of chewing later in the day.
So we were through security, and all of a sudden, there we were: in front of the Taj Mahal. It is impressive. It's huge, and very white and imposing. There were about a thousand other people there, all taking pictures. We must have taken a million photos, and I don't really know what I'm going to do with all of them! Just like anywhere you go, you have to take funny pictures of the monument. At the Leaning Tower of Pisa, you take pictures where you pretend to hold it up. And here, you take "Tiny Taj" pictures. For instance:
And here are some other fun photos for you:
I'm sure that most people know this, but the Taj Mahal is actually a tomb that was designed by a grieving king for his wife who had died. You can go inside the Taj Mahal to continue touring. Since this is a Muslim mosque, you must remove your shoes before entering. Actually, here is something interesting. In India, there are always 2 entry prices: one for locals, and one for foreigners. It's about 20 rupees for foreigners, 750 for foreigners. I think this is completely fair, as it allows them to collect revenue from the "richer" tourists and keeps these beautiful monuments accessible to their own citizens. Anyway, I mention that because your 750 rupees as a foreigner also gets you free shoe covers, so you don't have to take off your shoes if you don't want to. However, it felt so sinful (complete irony here) to walk around barefoot in this mosque, so I went shoeless.
Interesting vignette: all 22,000 workers who toiled for 21 years to create the Taj Mahal were rewarded by having their hands chopped off so they could never build anything as beautiful again.
And that's my adventure at the Taj Mahal!
1 comment:
hy beautiful pic if u again come to india contact us
www.touryourindia.com
or msg me or whats app me on +91
7737627408
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