The end of the blog!
Finally got around to finishing posts from the last trip, ending with the Taj Mahal. Certainly a different kind of visit to the Taj from the other visits over 40 (!) years. Much more expensive, much more controlled, lots more people, and a now a three hour visit time limit (!). Makes sense for controlling the numbers on the tomb grounds, but, to me, the time limit was a bit frustrating.
Lots to say about what an amazing place it is. A bit of a hassle, but worth the visit. A massive tourist infrastructure has necessarily evolved to support the huge number of visitors - local and foreign - that visit the place.
Please click on the pics to embiggen - best viewed on a larger screen, IMHO.
Got any questions....leave a comment!
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| The main gateway to the grounds. |
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| Looking from the Main gate to the Taj. |
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| The colour of the building changes through the day quite a bit. Mornings and evenings generally with an orange or even red tinge, but because of the heavy pollution it seems to have a colour cast all day. |
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| A detail of one of the entrance doors. |
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| Lots and lots of visitors, especially families, come to visit. Of course kids get dressed to the nine's and do a lot of picture posing. |
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| Pic by Anne. Up on the plinth lots of pics, selfies, and just sitting to take it all in. However, with only three hours we tended not to sit around much, while local visitors could take their time over multiple visits. |
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| Anne with some new 'selfie-friends.' |
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| Doug with some poor captive worker, who unfortunately let Doug know he could speak a bit of English. Note the chic booties on Doug - I could point out that they didn't want Doug's feet touching any of the monument, but I will truthfully have to say they have all the visitors wear these over their shoes or go barefoot. |
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| Maintenance and repair going on continuously, a good part by hand. |
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| Supervising the workers (when not chatting with Doug). |
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| Collecting firewood from garden maintenance. |
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| The Mosque on the grounds. |
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| Same building, broader view. |
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| Looking back at the main entrance and reflecting pool. |
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| A final look. |
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A short visit to the Tomb of I'timād-ud-Daulah, known as the 'Baby-Taj.' It's a much more compact building and grounds. Few people seem to visit it - a mistake not to visit this wonderful example of pietra dura inlays - precious and semi-precious stones set in marble. It was built before the Taj Mahal, and proved a bit of a 'dry run' for the techniques on the Taj (the tomb was for the grandfather of Mumtaz Mahal, who the Taj was built for).
The gates at the four cardinal directions of the tomb grounds.
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Some pics on our way back to Delhi (then on to Goa, which I've blogged about already).
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| Hanging out with buddies at a rickshaw stop.. |
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| Doug thought this guy was selling cashews! Turns out (easy to tell) that he was selling peanuts.... ...so Doug bought a couple of bags then complained (well, whined 😋) about it all the way back! |
Some of my usual voyeur pics of people (lots of students) taking transport!
A couple of signs on walls next to the road leaving town.
Ok.....done.
