Day at the Taj Mahal.......

        Up for the early 8.00am breakfast at Garden View Guest House. Nice chat over coffee with the

Very tough to add a description to perfection... at the right, human cremations.

owner--a very cultured gentleman. He registered concern that tourists are down this year—effect of recession in Europe? Misty and cool this morning, the local climate is still affected by the residual effects of last week’s typhoon that swept across the sub-continent. My 9.00am pre-booked taxi to take me across the city to the Taj Mahal was a no show and I was offered a hair-raising pillion passenger ride on the guest house wallah’s motor bike. My life passed before my eyes---left hand  road side blocked, use the right hand side, traffic light on red---no problem---just keep charging along!

           Arrived at the Taj Mahal compound a little shaken up, but basically all limbs still attached. Frisked, searched & X rayed, I entered, upon payment of my $14.00. Proceeded about 50 metres with the Taj in view through a beautiful archway and in the process of installing my camera on an extendible mono pod, when a large khaki uniformed gentle man (porting a sub-machine gun) sidled up and indicated that monopods are strictly verboten.  Under escort, I returned to the main gate and temporally deposited said offensive weapon in care of the security forces.

Double monkey trouble...

           Truly sublime could perhaps best describe the Taj. Constructed of white marble, it seems to change colour as clouds move across the sky. Recommended best times to visit/photograph are dawn and dusk when the Taj is bathed in pink light. The structure, built early 17^th century, and positioned high over the southern bank of the Yamana river, was built as a mausoleum for the Mughal Emperor’s wife. The edifice is structurally, of such uniformity, that when viewed from any corner or one of its 8 sides it is identical to the eye.

            By 11.30am, the crowds were pouring into the grounds. With near universal ownership of cameras cell phones, the “must have” for almost every visitor to this world ranked site, is a ’selfie’ with Taj as backdrop—yours truly also not being immune to the urge to obtain this photo trophy. Interestingly, standing back and watching human behavour, as I am prone to, observed that many visitors were more interested in the trophy ‘pic’ of themselves, than actually looking at and absorbing the monument itself. Shades of: “If this is Tuesday, this must be Belgium”. Click, click and hurry on. Yes, it is truly a  “must see”sight to excite the camera exposure button and can report that I probably fired nearly a hundred, probably many of which will not survive my aggressive culling process in the cold light of dawn. Keep the best, kill the rest--- that way everyone thinks you are photo

Over the roof tops view of Taj from nearby restarant.

genius!

         The Taj Mahal, duly surveyed and appreciated from all angles and in the growing mid-day heat, I decided to be brave and walk the 3 kms to Agra Fort a massive red stone palace, west of the Taj. The Fort offers extra-ordinary perspectives back eastwards, of the Taj and the cremation site, just below the monument, along the river-banks.

         With legs rapidly wearying, and a stomach growling for sustenance, I auto rick- shawed back to the city centre, to partake of the roof-top restaurants offering a seat with a unique view of the Taj Mahal as back drop. My plate of chicken chowmein and lemon tea served with a metre long 'monkey beating' stick and the warning that they can sometimes be quite aggressively playful and are notably partial to a nosh oh of chowmein! Happy to report that although they were all around, in the trees and hopping from house top to house top, my chowmein was consumed by its rightful owner, intact.

         Return to my guest house with nearly seven hours solid site seeing under my belt---just about as much as I can comfortably absorb in the sun & heat of a single session.