Our trip to the Taj started out at around 7:00 in the
morning after a quick breakfast. After convincing the hotel staff to not put
Annabelle's carseat in the back of the van we rented ("No, our daughter
needs to sit in that."), we were off!
It took about an hour to just get from Gurgaon, where we were staying,
through Delhi and out of town. That's when we hit the new highway that was
built from Delhi to Agra since the last time we were in India. Pretty fantastic
in comparison. It's like your everyday toll highway in the United
States...other than the random bathroom breaks happening on the side of the
road, despite there actually being a couple of rest stops along the way.
The rest stop we went to was really only interesting due
to there being some sort of fancy-pants Eastern Europeans stopped there at the
same time. They stuck out in India even more than the Lothrops...probably
mostly due to their entourage, caravan of vehicles, and heavily armed guards.
Enough of that excitement. As we got into Agra, we went
to a nice hotel near the Taj Mahal called The Trident. (There's also one that's
halfway operational and halfway still under construction in Hyderabad.) This
was intended to be a quick stop, but with a three year old nothing is
guaranteed to be quick. We needed a bathroom break...and then second breakfast.
After getting done with that we picked up out your guide and headed out.
About 1 km from the Taj Mahal is where we pick up
tickets. We got the foreign visitor tickets...which basically cost a lot more,
but actually gives you a good amount of perks. This is also where we ditched
our combustion engine van for an electric powered oversized golf cart. There
are no combustion engines allowed within a certain distance from the Taj in
order to keep too much pollution from encroaching, and it makes a noticeable
difference.
We entered through the foreigner lane and bypassed a huge
group of school children. This is where the local crowd turned into Annabelle's
paparazzi. For the rest of the day at the Taj, we garnered a ton of attention,
much to Annabelle's chagrin. Not only were we a fair skinned family, but
Annabelle opted for her traditional Indian outfit, so I think that added to the
allure.
Luckily, our tour guide was great. He was very
knowledgeable, told Annabelle a lot of stories about the Queen for whom the Taj
was built, and did a good job shielding us from too many people crowding us.
The Taj Mahal is stunning. The pictures speak for
themselves, but it's much more incredible in person.
We made our way to the front entrance to go inside the
main structure, which is where the Queen and King (Shah Jahan) rest. You have
to wear protective shoe covers (or no shoes) to go in. As my dad knows all too
well, Lothrop feet don't fit in just any shoe cover. But I was in luck! They
had a fancy oversized shoe cover contraption to fit over giant feet.
When we got to the main entrance, they actually let the
three of us in to the main chamber alone for about a minute. It was amazing.
There was a man in there who showed us a few cool things, including a certain
stone used in the designs throughout the structure that glows when light shines
on it. The man also called out "Anna" a few times to let her hear the
echo.
When the minute was up, the chamber filled with people:
back to reality.
After we were done, we headed back to the Trident and had
a wonderful brunch. I even got some more (sanitary!) pani puri. Could this get
better?! Yes. While we were eating someone from the staff came by and told us
there was a kids area where we could leave Annabelle for a while. Amanda and I
actually enjoyed a few drinks just with each other and Annabelle had a ball
playing. A great ending to a great trip.
