Anyway, I boarded the train, only to find that I had been put in a part of the train with all the tourists. The ride wasn't too bad, I got some sleep, sat and talked a little bit, and then we arrived in Agra. You could see the Taj Mahal almost immediately. I shared a tuk tuk with another guy to the guesthouse. We arrived and after checking in, I checked out the rooftop view. It was AMAZING! The Taj Mahal looks exactly like in the pictures! I was feeling pretty tired and weak, left over from being sick. I fell asleep and basically slept the whole day. At night, I went to the top of the guesthouse to eat and look at the view again. It was pretty cloudy out, but still as the sky changed colors from the slow descent of the sun, so did the Taj. It turned shades of blue and then shades of purple. Even in the darkness of night the Taj can be seen pretty clearly. I vowed not to sleep the following day and go see the Taj up close.
In the morning, I woke up still feeling pretty weak but knowing that I wanted to leave Agra the following day. I rustled myself out of bed, took a cold shower (feels wonderful in the heat of the Monsoon season), and headed out to see this magnificent building. I'm not one to be particularly impressed by architecture, but the Taj Mahal is an exception. And to think about the man-power and labor that went into constructing this building is insane. You walk through the entrance and you are immediately inside a post card. You know the one, with the water leading up to the Taj. People are taking all sorts of fun pictures. This is unfortunately the only point that I got a picture of myself with the Taj because my batteries died before I left. I walked down the steps and found my way to the entrance of the actual building, after taking off my shoes, of course. The marble and intricately inlaid stones into beautiful flower designs are seriously impressive. I walked around and looked at everything, but in light of my utter exhaustion, I felt like I couldn't appreciate it the way I wanted to. I walked towards the exit and was happy to see people sitting and laying down in the shade of the Taj, enjoying the cool marble. I joined the crowds and passed out in my little corner. Once I got up, I was feeling a bit better and decided to go through the Taj again. I took my time looking at the flower designs and beautiful Arabic in the marble. I then walked out and into part of the gardens in front of the Taj. This is when I found myself looking back to make sure this majestic building was really there. It had a strange translucence to me. As if it could be a mirage in the dehydrated mind of a human in the desert. I sat on a bench and just enjoyed the scenery filled with interested Indians and foreigners admiring the Taj and the beautiful trees, plants, and tiny squirrels. I allowed some Indians to take pictures with me, wrote in my journal, people-watched, watched people watching me, and admired the beauty of the three great buildings in sight. Once I got up, I wandered around the Mosque and the 'other' building (built for symmetry), looked around the not as impressive museum, and wandered along the wall of Indian sights to see. Eventually, I was hesitant to leave, but it was time for me to head back for a skype meeting.
The next day, I left Agra. There's not a whole lot in Agra, but there is ruins of an ancient town not too far out the city and also the Agra Fort that people visit. I wouldn't have minded seeing these things, but wasn't set on them either. I decided to concern my energy and hop on a train to Delhi, where I could rest a bit and get ready to head to Dharamsala.
Once again, I bought the lowest class ticket and bumped it up once the train came. Part of me almost feels guilty for doing this, like I should just ride in the lowest class.... I will at some point of my trip, when I don't have a giant bag. The lower class tickets are standing room only, and you know those pictures you see of people in India stuffed into and hanging out of buses? Well, it's like that, but in a train and VERY hot! It almost reminds me of some pictures from the holocaust of people stuffed in trains, but there are windows and these people are free to get on and off as they please.
I am in Delhi now and will see some of the cool things here, but so far have just been resting up.
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