8-1-2011 the Taj Mahal

we had a 5 a.m. wake up call. Vinod was waiting as appointed. As we hopped into the van another fellow joined us. I had forgotten that we had hired a guide for the day. His name was PC, short for Puran Chand Upadhyay.
. From the outset he seemed extremely knowledgable and spoke much better English than Vinod. We rode the short ride to the entrance of the Taj Mahal. The roads are designed to essentially reduce the amount of authorized traffic the closer in that you get.
     We arrived at the ticket area. There were very few people who had gotten up as early as we did but we were figuring that it is once in a lifetime. PC got our tickets for us. It is 750 rupees for non-Indians and only 5 rupees for Indians. It makes sense as this national cultural treasure should be accessible to Indian people. 5 rupees is equal to 12.5 cents. After getting our tickets we sat in a vehicle for the short ride to the gate. The drivers were milling around, not paying attention. Fariba and I discussed between us that we hoped we made it there before sunrise.
     PC very perceptibly must have heard us and he immediately went to the drivers and spoke to them in Hindi and one of the drivers came over and took us to the gate. There were about 10 other people waiting at the gate when we got there. About 5:50 a.m. they opened the gate and we went through security. We walked across a large expanse containing a wall and sandstone buildings that face the Taj Mahal.
     We could catch glimpses of the Taj over the colonnaded wall. We then turned right along a walkway to see a glimpse of the edifice through one of the arched buildings that face it. We walked into the first building and now could clearly see the Taj through the arches. Here we took the first of many pictures, framing the Taj with the arches.
     As we walked out of the building and on to the walkway towards the Taj, the sight was so awe inspiring that it sent chills through our spines. We were pretty giddy during all of this.
     Meanwhile, PC was explaining the history. One of the early Mughal kings had married a Persian woman who bore him 14 children. She died during the birth of the last child at age 39. The king was devastated and decided to build the Taj Mahal as her crypt.
     The Taj is constructed entirely of marble. It took 22 years and 20,000 men to build the structure. It is truly a wonder of the world. You may not know that the building is entirely symmetrical. Thus, what you see in the pictures is what you see from the front and back and from either side of the structure.
     There is a marble platform about 100 yards from the Taj. It was another great spot for photos. We were literally the first people to walk to the building that morning. We went to the shoe storage and removed our shoes so that we could place our bare feet on to the white marble and walk up to and in to the building.
     Once inside we were inside the dome, which is a double dome. Our guide, who is Hindu, would lightly yell the Islam phrase 'Ali akbar' or something like that so that we could hear how it would reverberate within the space. Again, another incredible moment. Then it was out the back for a view of the Yumani River.  Across the river was a large spit of stand stretching out from and adjoining the forested area. We noticed people herding goats, washing clothes and working camels across the space. It was amazing to see the local life ongoing right behind one of the most spectacular structures in the world.
     Flanking the Taj are two large sandstone buildings like mosques which would be intriguing structures in and of themselves.
     We picked up our shoes and tipped the shoe wala and then went to sit on a. bench to simply look at the Taj and marvel. In the tree above us, parrots fed their chicks with at least three nests built into the crevices of the tree.
     I forgot to mention there were also two monkeys walking around the perimeter of the Taj.
     As we walked away from the Taj, we kept turning around to look at it again almost every step we took. Chills went through us again when we saw it for the last time and our guide said there are only two types of people in the world:  those who have seen the Taj Mahal and those who want to!
     Another interesting sight at the Taj were the many Hindi followers of Shiva. This was an auspicious day for them and many of them were wearing bright orange clothing with the men in shorts and barefoot. It was also the first day of Ramadan in the Muslim world so this made the day all the more special.