The Taj

At the train station in Varanasi, a long metal staircase leads up to an elevated walkway spanning six rows of track. Mark left me seated on the walkway with our bags while he went back to the main platform for a cup of Indian tea. While I sat waiting, I watched as the other passengers walked by or settled themselves similarly on the sides of the walkway to wait for their trains. The most curious passenger that passed me by was a rather large white cow, leaving me amazed at the places you see cows in this country.

As Mark was buying his tea, I noticed that our tickets to our next destination, Jhansi, were instead, tickets to Jaipur. Fortunately for me, Mark was not the least put out by my mistake and, even more fortunately, Agra, where we had planned to go after Jhansi, was on the way to Jaipur, so we needed only to get out a stop early and we would only miss out on one city without any unnecessary hassle.

When we boarded the train, I asked our seatmates, who all happened to be fellow travelers, if they would moving their luggage from the top berth so that I could sleep, which they agreed to amicably.

When we arrived in Agra, a man outside of the train station told us that we would not be able to bring our bags into the Taj Mahal, but that we could store them at the train station. Since I was not feeling well and Mark was anxious to finalize his departure plans, we had decided to just stop off in Agra long enough to see the Taj Mahal and then catch an afternoon train to Delhi. Because trains between Agra and Delhi run so often, we needed simply to buy a ticket for that day and could use it on any of the hourly trains.

We checked our bags in a room luggage store room and headed over to the rickshaw stand where we found that you could purchase rickshaws at an hourly rate. I had originally wanted to simply flag a rickshaw down at the corner, but Mark convinced me that it would cost approximately the same amount for the hourly rate as it would to go there and back, and in the former instance, we would be guaranteed a ride back when we wanted it. I agreed and we paid for a four hour guide, who turned out to be a really friendly man who spent the ride telling us all about Agra and the history of the Taj Mahal.

When we reached the gates of the Taj Mahal, we joined the queue waiting to pay to enter. The entrance fee for Indians is 250 rupees, about $6 US dollars, while the rate for foreigners is 1500, about $35 US dollars. While this fee might not seem like much to people paying entrance fees for attractions in the States, I could feel all eyes on me as I counted out the fifteen hundred rupee fee.

I had been talking about going to see “The Taj” for months now and since that time, I’d never even looked up a picture of the building, knowing it only as an abstract idea. Now that I was there, I was duly impressed and could finally see what all the fuss is about.

The Taj Mahal is situated on lush landscaped grounds housing smaller marble buildings, similarly exquisite. The gate itself particularly impressive with its imposing grandeur, inlaid marble flowers and towering turrets. We spent about an hour wandering around inside, marveling at the beauty and detail. After our requisite “me at the Taj Mahal” pictures, we headed back to our guide for the ride back to the train station.