The Taj Mahal, one of the seven new Wonders of the World, was an awesome sight. We left our hotel at 5:30am (no breakfast! no coffee! ugh!) to make the 6am sunrise opening of the Taj.
Unfortunately, the sun was not seen from behind the clouds, but the Taj wasn’t too crowded in the morning
The scale of the Taj was monumental in person. We could’ve easily spent a day just staring at it (especially if they sold some food). We ended up spending around 2 hours wandering around the Taj, its mosque, and the grounds, and attempted to take the perfect photo. Impossible I tell you. It was nice to enjoy the Taj before the crush of tourists arrived.
After a nap, we headed to Akbar’s tomb, Sikandara. There were few tourists and it was quite relaxing to walk the grounds. The mausoleum was pretty, with gold inlaid on the ceilings. The tomb itself contained marble coffins and was lit by a candle in a black metal lamp on a chain. The manicured lower lawn housed deer and black-faced monkeys, some of who got a little too close for my comfort. When the monkeys ventured up on the walkway I went running for the hills, much to the amusement of Kelly and the locals.
