Taj Mahal and Agra

the famous Taj Mahal - one of the reasons people go to India
Taj Mahal in Agra captures the imagination of countless travellers. The iconic image of Taj Mahal is one of the most recognizable monuments.

India for a lot of travelers means Delhi – Agra – Jaipur. And for a first visit to India, that’s how I started. After the crazy streets of Delhi I moved to Agra – and visited the main attraction there – the famous Taj Mahal.

The visit started pretty bad. First I had a price sticker shock – 750 rupees for entry, the largest entry fee I encountered. But things got worse when I was not allowed to the Taj because I had Holi paint on my face. So after queuing and passing the security check, I had to go and wash the paint. And getting rid of Holi colors is not easy. But when I was asked again to get rid of the party look – it seemed I was not serious enough for the Taj Mahal – I became quite annoyed. Half an hour spent running, queuing, getting my bag checked is not a fun experience.

But all bad feelings passed when I finally saw the Taj Mahal.

As with a lot of famous places, expectations sometime are too big for the reality. Places like Taj Mahal are surrounded by so much hype that it has to be really amazing in order to live up to the expectations. Fortunately, it is an amazing building. And even though all my photos were probably taken a million times before by all the tourists, I still returned with fond memories. It’s just that later on – in Jaipur – I encountered sights that made the Taj pale in comparison (for me). But about Jaipur in another post…

You can also read some information about the Taj Mahal in a new article.

In the mean time you can read about my first day in Delhi and see a gallery of people photographed on the streets.

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