The Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal trip was an early start.  We needed to travel ­200 kms from our home base in Gurugram (Delhi) to reach Agra.  As such, we left promptly at 6am from our hotel.  The start of the day was almost traffic free (a rarity in India) but after the sunrise, we could definitely see the congestion picking up. 

Our driver chose the toll route for the way there, so we made it in just under 5 hours.  Upon arriving in Agra, I was surprised at the amount of poverty, pollution and lack of infrastructure in the town.  Apparently since the Taj Mahal is one of the 7 World Wonders, the government has banned all types of manufacturing and various industries in the town in an effort to reduce the pollution (the marble of the Taj is already discolouring and more pollution would only add to this problem).  For the locals, this means that the main source of income for them is in tourism, and since there’s not much else than the Taj Mahal, there isn’t much in terms of livelihood. 

When we arrived at the entrance of the Taj, we needed to purchase entrance tickets.  The lineups were MASSIVE and then I realized there were two lines.  One for locals and the other for foreigners (non Indian citizens).  The government has created two separate ticket prices in an effort to allow all native Indians access to these monuments.  Locals pay only 40 Rupees, whereas foreigners pay 1500 (which is only about $30).  The massave lineups were for the locals, so we were able to get our tickets and access the monument easily. 

Throughout the day I was approached 5 or 6 times by locals asking to take selfies with me.  I was quite awkward at the beginning because it was unexpected, but mom came to my rescue and was my bouncer for the rest of the day.  Apparently they don’t get that many white people here. 

The Taj was impressive, but I think some of the wonder was lost by me due to the large crowds and the fact that I have had an upset stomach for weeks (also known as Delhi Belly).  Our guide said that they upwards of 80,000 visitors a day during the high season and mentioned that the day we went wasn’t even so crowded.  So I guess I’ll count myself lucky.

During our walk through, we learned about the different craftsmanship that went into constructing the  Taj.  The workers would take pieces of precious stones and grind them by hand into shapes that would be imbedded into the marble and sanded down.  It all sounded like an incredibly huge amount of work and later in the afternoon we got a demonstration of the craft from local artists. 

All in all, it was interesting but due to the crowds, pollution and upset stomachs, we decided to head home after a few hours.  The trip back was even longer and took upwards of 7 hours due to traffic.  It was a long day but I’m happy to say that the Taj Mahal was checked off my list!