Agra

Wow, the Taj Mahal. We made it. An official Wonder of the World. I actually laid in bed the night before thinking, "wow, I'll be seeing the Taj Mahal tomorrow, that's crazy!" What would David Lee Roth do at a time like this?............

JUMP! Might as welllll, Jump! (We haven't been sleeping a lot...)

Okay, so we weren't thinking about DLR at the time but it sure seems appropriate now.

The "Taj" (as those who have been there can call it) is pretty much just what you expect. After seeing 7000 discovery channel specials on Shah Jahan's masterpiece there's not much left to the imagination. Still, seeing it first hand the scale is breathtaking and there were a few details that got lost in the broadcasts. I was a big fan of the monster Arabic. The black detail on both the interior and exterior of the "Taj" (black marble on the outside and onyx on the inside) is actually the entire Quran is surprisingly large text.

Other detail work that overwhelmed was the floral inlay work inside the mausoleum. 68 pieces comprise a single flower and the look is sublime (can you tell I've been reading the travel books?). It looks more like a painting than anything else and a very good painting at that.

We spent several hours taking in the grounds and watching the color change as the sun rose; That's right, rose. We were there at 6:30am. Here's a shot of it in Pink - taken about 15 min before the opening shot of this post.

The color changing effect is assisted by the overwhelming pollution in Agra - (Okay, Okay, so I know I complained about the pollution in Delhi and I'll probably complain about the pollution elsewhere, but this place is like the Himalaya of industrial pollution - 6 out of 10 of the biggest peaks are here!). Apparently after losing it's position as the capital of the region (when power shifter to Delhi) Agra decided to fight back by becoming the industrial capital of the region. Great Choice. World's greatest building in an industrial waste land. In a way, it adds to the contrast and impact of the entire experience. Greatest Building in India, filthiest town in India.

Recently, the Indian government shut down the roads within 1Km of the "Taj" due to concerns that Acid Rain was destroying the monument. They figured reducing auto traffic would help alleviate the harmful effects..... Perhaps someone needs to re-explain the concept of Acid Rain to the Indian Government.

Ultimately, the best part of the whole experience is that I have now joined the ranks of those who can say they have touched the "Taj", and there's something to be said about that.