Taj Mahal Trip

        The group had to be up at 5 am this morning in order to see the Taj Mahal during the sunrise.  After people showing up late to the bus and some guy trying to buy batteries from a street vendor, we made it to the Taj Mahal.  The only problem was that we had to stand in a long line, and by the time we finally got inside, the sun had already risen pretty high.

          The grounds were beautiful and had gardens all over the place.  The Taj stood up right in the center, with two other areas for worship on either side of it.  You could see the Taj reflected in the reflecting pools.  When I finally got up close to it, I could see all of the intricate work.  Flowers had been carved into marble, and around the doorways precious stones had been inlaid.

          On the inside, the King and wife’s tombs were right in the center.  His tomb made it asymmetrical, which was the only thing not symmetrical about the whole building.  The story goes that the queen was about to die giving birth to their 14^th child.  As she was on her death bed, she asked her husband for three things.  The first that he would never remarry.  The second that he would take care of their children, and lastly that he would make her something that people from all over the world would come to see.  After thousands of men worked on it, the Taj Mahal was finally completed after 22 years.  When the king died many years later, the son buried him next to his wife. 

The whole place was built with the expectation that there would be an earthquake or other natural disaster.  The four pillars surrounding the Taj Mahal are built leaning outward from the Taj, so that if there is an earthquake, they will fall away from the monument.  It is also built on round wood filled wells, to help absorb the shock.  These same wells will keep the Taj Mahal afloat if it breaks off from the land into the river.

After the Taj Mahal trip, we stopped at Fatehpur Sirki, an old city of India.  I don’t know much about it, but it was very similar to Fort Agra which was our next stop.  Fort Agra was named the new capital after the King of India finally had a son there.  After having so many female progeny, he finally declared that wherever he had a son would be the new capital.  It happened at Agra, so they moved the capital there.  It had a huge harem centered in the fort, which was five stories tall.  It housed all of the kings concubines.  The woman of the day was kept on the top level of the harem.  The King was very happy, but the only problem was that water was in short supply.  They made drains to collect water, but they never had enough, so after a few years, the King moved the capital back.

Now we had a four hour ride back to Delhi, and for half of it I just slept.  The other half I spent talking to an older woman named Yolanda.   She is originally from Guatemala, and I heard a lot about her life story.  She has been to many places all over the world, and I hope that someday I will have been to more places than she.  We arrived at the hotel, which was just as fancy as the last one, but my room this time had a HUGE balcony.  The decorating was kinda weird, with lots of gold and floral, along with a giant English painting of some woman.

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