Helen Stephenson's India Trip - June-July, 2006 - Taj Mahal

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Sunday July 2nd ...continued


On arrival in Agra, we went straight to the Taj Mahal, thinking that we’d see that first and then see what spare time we had afterwards. The car park is some distance from the actual Taj Mahal buildings and there are various conveyances available for making the journey and as Ashima really wanted to ride in a camel cart, that’s what we did. The camel just plodded along and even the pony carts overtook it, but at least we could say we’d had a camel ride!


 

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They are very strict about not allowing food into the Taj Mahal and lockers are provided where you can store anything which is prohibited, so I turned a couple of cereal bars and some softmints out of my handbag and Nitin went and found a locker. Then we went through a little archway which I think was a metal detector and had our bags searched. They found some Mentholyptus in my handbag and took that off me. I could have taken it to a locker, but decided to abandon it. My camera went through the security screening with no problem, but Nitin was carrying my camera bag with my extra lenses in it and that apparently came in for some scrutiny.

With those formalities out of the way, we were inside the Taj Mahal complex, where there are some red buildings as well as the famous white monument.


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The cupola on the left is just outside of the Taj Mahal complex, while the picture on the right shows the main way in after negotiating the security checkpoint. The women on the left of the picture are wearing the Punjabi suit, which is quite commonly worn in the Delhi area, and is apparently much easier to put on than a sari!

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This is the building that you pass through to reach the Taj Mahal.


 

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Ashima and Nitin posed in front of the red building for me. These pictures are both the same picture, but I've cropped in closer for the picture on the right. Ashima is wearing a denim skirt. It was the only time I ever saw her in a skirt. The women did not wear skirts to the office. They wore either a blouse and western trousers or the Pujabi suit. Skirts are for "going out".


 

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The next three pictures all came from the same image. I didn't know what I'd got until I looked at this picture on the computer. I was trying to frame the central dome of the Taj Mahal through the arch, but wasn't very successful as it was so much brighter than the rest of the picture. However, I did find that when I brightened up the dark areas that I had caught Ashima and Nitin in discussion with one another; and I also had an interesting picture of a couple wearing traditional Indian clothes. The lady on the right has an umbrella which matches her top. Carrying an umbrella for shade is not an uncommon thing.


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I made another attempt at framing the Taj Mahal's main dome in the archway, but was only marginally more successful. That's one occasion when I should have checked my histogram to be sure that I'd got what I wanted!


 

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I got the obligatory picture of the Taj Mahal with the tree-lined pool in front of it.


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The guide we employed used my camera to take a picture of me in front of the Taj Mahal; and he also took a picture of Ashima and me.


 

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Here is the other side of the building we walked through to get into the grounds surrounding the Taj Mahal.

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This is one of the red buildings which flank the white marble area of the Taj Mahal, with a view to the river beyond.


 

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Here is a more complete view of the red side-building, both with and without me posed in front of it. I don't think I added anything to this picture!


 

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Photography isn’t allowed inside of the Taj Mahal itself, but you can take photographs of the exterior. Here is a picture of the detail of the marble of the Taj Mahal. It does bear out reports that the Taj Mahal is in need of some restoration work.


 

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Had the day been less hot, I probably would have taken a lot more photographs than I did, but I’d gone into the Taj Mahal with only a litre of water and it turned out to be not enough and I was desperate to get out of the heat.

When we left the Taj Mahal compound, Nitin got each of us a litre bottle of chilled water and we went into an air conditioned shop where they were selling marble souvenirs. You could buy a complete model of the Taj Mahal in there; and you could also buy plates and even table tops. I got a pen-holder for my desk.


 

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Then we took rickshaws back to the car park, where I bought a Taj Mahal t-shirt for Stephen. Ashima kept telling me not to buy because I could get it cheaper in Delhi and eventually the price fell to the Delhi price and I bought the t-shirt.

We had a late lunch in a restaurant we found in Agra, and we also went into a sweet shop where they sell a specialty sweet made from melons which is only found in Agra. I tried some, and it was incredibly sweet.

Then we got back in the car for the long ride back to Gurgaon. We were all tired by the time we got back, but I was especially tired, and Ashima thought I shouldn’t go into work the next day, but I kept saying that I would.







More from my June-July 2006 business trip to India: July 3rd-6th: My third week at work Leaving presentation

Back to July 2nd: Jai Guru Dev Temple The road to Agra

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Last Revised: 24th June, 2007.