To the Taj and beyond

The most amazing thing about the Taj Mahal is that it actually lives up to all the hype. Yesterday I caught a train to Agra, meeting up with a friendly Canadian guy who I had met in the ticket line the day before. Disembarking at Agra, we discovered that the touts and rickshaw drivers are even more insistent than Delhi, which we didn't think was possible. The guys just won't take 'no' for an answer - at one point we had a bike rickshaw follow us for a good 20 minutes, hovering over our shoulder to see if we'd get tired of walking.

But the Taj itself made all the hassle worth it. You enter a ticket gate with a gender-segregated security line and into a lush courtyard lined with red sandstone. The next large gate you walk through is impressive on its own, inlaid with flowing Arabic script and decorated with intricate carvings. Pass through and there's the Taj Mahal, spread out before you just like all the pictures you've seen. It's set away from the world in an even larger courtyard full of long pools and huge trees, flanked by a matching pair of ornate mosques.

Dan and I walked around the huge structure, marveling at the inlay and precision and sheer scale of the thing. It took 20,000 laborers 20 years to complete it, really incredible considering that most European cathedrals took generations. We sat just watching the Taj as the light changed, making the white marble glow, until the Indian tourists with their cameras became too insistent and we fled into the hot, hot streets.

From there we visited the Red Fort, another impressive structure from the same period. Again there was plenty of red sandstone, white marble, and intricate decorations, but there were also signs of neglect and vandalism. Dan and I parked ourselves in a cool shaded corner and watched brightly colored tourists and brilliant green parrots pass by, for about two hours. Why Indians don't observe a siesta is beyond me.

It's hard to believe that I'm leaving India today. Just when I'd gotten used to the hassles, the accents, the spicy food, I'm off for a completely new place. My wonderful friend Nora has been working for the Peace Corps in Kazakhstan for the past two years and I'm going to go test her considerable patience, beginning with a 3:30 am arrival at the Almaty airport. I'll try to keep you updated on all our crazy adventures - hope you have enjoyed this so far!

Love,
Em