First drama of the day was getting past the overzealous security guards, who wouldn't let TJ take in his camera tripod, removed all food, and even tried to stop Alex bringing in books (none of which were even related to the Taj Mahal).
The approach to the Taj Mahal is beautifully set up. You first have to walk along a path perpendicular to the entry, then go through a massive set of intricately carved gates. As you walk through the Taj appears before you at the other end of the gardens, filled with trees and a massive reflecting pool.
As Dean and Salil were sorting out some kinks, the group was left to enjoy the scenery. We were interrupted by a man who approached us, claiming he had been sent by Salil and trying to drag us off on a tour. After 10 minutes of back-and-forth and finally locating Dean (who had no idea who this man was), Salil finally returned after his trek back to the lockers to confirm that this man was indeed our tour guide.
During this wait period, we were all thoroughly amused by the antics of a dramatic European woman. Swathed in bright purple material (we assumed it had been a sari at some point, but she had taken a lot of artistic license...), with a massive ohm pendant and a leather band hippie-style around her forehead. She picked up three different would-be tour guides, but only used them to carry her bags and take pictures of her making stupid poses (holding up the Taj, anyone?)
Before entering the Taj, we walked around the deck that forms its base, admiring the temples on either side, watching the communal bath in the river below and examining the intricate carvings around the outside of the building. We finally entered a small room and passed into the shadowy, echoing central chamber. The actual tomb, housed below, is closed to visitors, but is replicated in full (though with semi-precious stones rather than jewels) in this ground floor hall. The walls were beautifully decorated but the fake tomb was the centerpiece, with the coffin surrounded by intricately-carved marble studded with "jewels". It turned out that the small room we had entered was one of 6 that wrapped around the central chamber. Walking through these rooms, we discovered that the wooden door blocking off the last room was covered in English graffiti. Though this was disappointing, it was a relief that the actual stone had not been defiled.
Like many historical places of beauty, it would have been nice to have seen the Taj in its original splendor. Though the white structure was beautiful, we got the impression that originally it also sparkled in the sunlight with countless jewels/stones that have since been removed. Nevertheless, it was very special to see in person such a beautiful site.
On our way out, we were all lured into a store selling beautiful but heavily overpriced inlaid carvings, boxes and plates. As this was our earliest shopping experience, a few of us spent a bit more money than we should have and regretted it later! On the bright side, we learned our lesson.
By the time we had returned to the hotel and loaded up the bus, the sun was in full force. The heat was so scorching that we ended up having to scrap our plans to visit the Agra Fort. Though the fort is a stunning structure and is tied in to the Taj Mahal, its size meant that we would have to have spent 2 hours walking around in temperatures that reached 120 degrees! To compensate, we pulled over at the side of the road and got some distant, but clear photographs. As soon as we climbed out of the bus, we understood why the tour had been cancelled. The heat was so oppressive it felt like we were walking around in an oven. Forget frying an egg on the sidewalk, we could have done it in the air!
On the bright side, the four-hour bus ride was a rare stretch of down-time after the first few hectic days. Thus we were all a bit more awake when we arrived at the beautiful city of Jaipur. We ended our day with a night-time roof-top dinner. It turned out that Monday is the most popular day for weddings in Jaipur, so our dinner was decorated by a steady stream of fireworks and we ran into multiple brightly-colored wedding parties on the streets, with the groom astride a red-decorated horse surrounded by gold-swathed attendants.
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