The Taj Mahal

We crossed off one of the "7 Wonders of the World" with our visit to the Taj Mahal. 

 It really was breathtaking. Magical. 

 We arrived at 6:30am and waited in line to go through security. No purses, bags, food/drink, phones, drawing materials, or camera tripods are allowed. 

 We walked in through the East Gate. 

And were pretty excited once inside :)

 We posed on Lady Diana's bench. 

 And took some very touristy pics. 

 A little background, if you don't know the story behind this masterpiece: It was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial to his wife, Mumatz Muhal, who died giving birth to her 14th child in 1631. She was 39 years old. He was devastated and began construction on the Taj the same year. It wasn't completed until 1653. It's made of white marble and the bill today would be equivalent to $70 million.  

Inside the mausoleum lies Mumatz Muhal...and beside her, Emperor Shah Jahan. 

 You can see the detail in the marble in the below picture. Pretty amazing. 

Below is our guide, who took our pictures. He was great and we were so thankful to have someone to snap some pics of us. We found out later he was actually somewhat of a shady character...sadly, this happens quite a bit in India. You almost have to embrace that this is part of the culture or you could spend alot of time hating the place you're in.  

The actual city of Agra is the dirtiest place I have ever seen. Thousands of tourists, from all over the world, flock to the Taj everyday; and just outside its gate is such a different reality. 

We left the Taj and were on our way to Jaipur. 

Of course, not without a little traffic first. 

xx,

Lauren