India

THIS IS THE WAY.

CAN'T BELIEVE IT RAINED TODAY

GREAT PIC OF THIS WORLD WONDER

STOPPED RAINING....YEAHHHHH

 AGRA.:

I awake early not to miss my friends and our trip to this much anticipated 'Wonder of the World" The Taj Mahal. I can't believe it...it's raining..OMG..today of all days..so grab my poncho and we walk the few minutes to the Office that sells the tickets and  board the FREE  shuttle bus that takes all visitors to and from the site..we are the first.. and when we arrive at the Taj Mahal there are very few people there...We wait in line till they open the gates at six and go through heavy security...no bags or backpacks allowed...There are many heavily armed military personnel around and in The Taj Mahal as there had been many threats made to destroy the Wonder of The World. I think Mumbai terrorist attack was a huge wake up call for India's security forces.
     The rain stops after about thirty minutes and as it becomes light we are able to get some good pics with very few visitors present. I am determined to sit on the white seat that Lady Diana sat on  when visiting this same spectacle.. The next few hours are spent walking around and inside the Taj Mahal viewing all to see..I was surprised that all that was inside was a Secophogus but then again it is a Mausoleum.  The interior was very dark and hard to see all the wonderful inlaid works on the marble walls.. also no photography is allowed and you must wear the shoe covers that all visitors are given with their entry tickets..The buildings marble and inlaid writings were quite fascinating and I was really taken by the craftmens work inlaying all these writings that are all around the building and it would have been good to be able to understand all of what is written.. I had only seen the Taj Mahal from a distance when coming into Agra and it didn't look too much from a long distance. I guess expectations can be disappointments also. The building is of course a wonderful piece of architecture and a building masterpiece and a wonderful achievement it is for all the amazing amount of  20,000 artisans made up of Mughul Architects and Designers, Artisans, Craftsmen, Labourers that built the mighty structure. The dome was especially a message to the world of the extraordinary ability of Mogul Architecture and building prowess.. I was later to visit another amazing site in India that I thought was as  much as beautiful as this ..This was a wonderful morning and having seen what I thought was all to see..I decided to return to The hostel for breakfast once again on the free shuttle service back to where I started..a short walk from the Hostel..

INCREDIBLE..

AMAZING HUGE BUILDING

                                                  SMILE ...EVEN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO..