Annabelle Takes on the Taj!

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.