Taj Mahal: Embrace Your Inner Tourist

There is a very short list of college students that I would want to have stay in our home, crashing on a spare bed in the playroom, for two weeks.  If you are currently in college and reading this blog, you're probably on that list (Sarah and Ariel, this means you!).  But still, when Abigail emailed Jonah a few months ago about a possible trip to India, we were a bit nervous about having our first visitor. Abigail was one of Jonah's students/advisees at Waynflete and now a college senior looking for an adventure for the last two weeks of winter break.  The last time I saw her was when the four of us attended her high school graduation party - Asa was not quite two and Liam was not quite six months old.  So like, a lifetime ago.  Anyway, it has been a delight to have her here.

Having our first guest provided the impetus to plan a trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.  We are fortunate to have the services of a travel agent here at school and who made arrangements for a car and driver for the weekend.  It was a smooth, four hour journey to Agra except for the fact that Asa officially gets car sick.  Typical of road travel in India, the ride was slow with much to see out the windows (none of it captured on camera).  There was an eclectic collection of vehicles - many overstuffed with passengers. On every dusty field there was a cricket game in progress. We saw countless women walking along the road with impossibly huge bundles balanced on their heads. And then there were the animals: camels, goats, monkeys, cows, horses, and water buffalo.  And my favorite road sign: "Helmet or Hell, The Choice is Yours". 

Instead of booking one of the hotels the travel agent suggested - they all seemed overpriced and average - we chose to make a reservation at a guest house, India's version of a B&B.  A bit of a risk, but it was only for one night and we have the utmost faith in TripAdvisor.  We were not disappointed.  It was definitely the cozy atmosphere you'd expect staying in someone's home and it gave the trip a more authentic feel given that we were in town to see the Taj Mahal, just like everyone else. As an added bonus, we left Agra with the promise of an arranged marriage for Abigail.  

Once out of the car and settled into our rooms, we enjoyed some down time with our hosts and then set out to tour the Agra Fort which was just a few minutes away.  It was a beautiful place to spend the afternoon and it was great to be out in the warm sunshine and catch our first glimpse of the Taj Mahal.

Afterward, we talked our way into the Oberoi Hotel - where the cheap rooms go for $800 a night - and enjoyed a sunset cocktail with a view.

Sunday morning, we were at the Taj Mahal close to the 7:00am opening time.  It was foggy and downright chilly.  Jonah and Asa were the only two people there wearing shorts and both were wishing they hadn't. As we were approaching the entrance, we bumped into one of the school drivers who was there with three authors (J. Patrick Lewis, Peter Sis, and John Coy) who are visiting the elementary school at AES this week.  We introduced ourselves and chatted about their time in India so far.  It was kind of crazy to run into people connected to school but that happens when tourists want to see the same place. Anyway, despite all the times I've seen its image, being at the Taj Mahal was an entirely new experience.  Sure there's all the history and architectural facets to the place but to see it in person was just, as one of the visiting authors called it, "nifty".  It's difficult to come up with a better word than that.  Of course we have many more photos - click HERE to see them.