I awoke, early the next morning (day two) feeling bruised and like I had taken a turn in a washing machine on high... I would soon learn, that the feeling would be a reoccurring event each morning. We arose extra early to try and watch the sunrise over the Taj Mehal. By the time we had walked over to the Taj, the sun had already risen and there was a considerable line. There were four different lines to get in to seethe monument: Indian Men, Men, Indian Women, Women with seperate prices for each group. I'll leave you to your own emotions on that on, but we had gotten half way through the line when we realized, they didn't sell tickets. Robin ran back to one of the shop owners who had tried to corral us into buying something from him, and somehow convinced him to take her on his moped to buy tickets and that we would stop in after our trip inside.
We got through the line but Solen got stopped and interrogated for having pencils, apparently people are not allowed to draw the Taj, and it is against regulations. Plus the door guards thought her external hard drive was a computer and tried to open it. She was horrified, they came very close to destroying all her pictures and work she had saved on it. After arguing for 15 minutes that she was architect student and that she had no intentions of drawing the Taj, she had to go allll the way back out and drop her pens and notes from class(that happened to be in her backpack) with our friendly store owner. Then they had the audacity to make snarky comments at us, any time we passed by. Typical day in India. Once we rounded the corner stark red stone walls rose up, cushioning and contrasting the Taj. Lush green grass, well manicured and well maintained bordered every building. We wound through the inner workings of the red gates, before finding the grand impressive entrance. Standing out majestically against the smog filled air, I wondered what it must have looked like before the air had become so polluted. 
I stood there speechless, and unbelieving, my first wonder of the world. Seeing as we had gotten there so early, the gardens were uncrowded and mildly peaceful. I closed my eyes and imagined sitting out on the deck of the Taj drinking a cup of lemon tea, watching the sun rise.
Solen, Robin and I squawked around the main square, taking glamour and touristy shots of ourselves, and other tourists. The funniest shots where those of people "picking up" the Taj or the set of twins who did a back bend around the Taj.
After our intensive photoshoot, we started up the behemoth building, as large and imposing as it seems from far away - close up its even more intimidating. Every section with some intricate pattern inlay-ed into the white marble or carved out to make a geometric design. It is as striking and awe inspiring (if not more) as the pictures display. I was lost in thought, rubbing the marble walls, as if they would tell me how they got to where they were. When I spotted an alcove and jumped inside, guru that I was, all of a sudden a group of Asian men asked to take a picture with us so a whole bunch of us crowded into the alcove and faux-meditated. It was actually kind of fun to take touristy photos with complete strangers, I wonder if I made it into a photo album somewhere?
After the excitement of trying to get inside, the peaceful gardens and majestic view took over our thoughts. The loud chatter would come in waves of increasing interest, then thoughtful silence. Each time once of us would speak, it would like an eruption of sights and sounds we would try and convey to the group so no one would miss the incredible find they had spotted. What seemed like ten minutes later we started to get hungry, after consulting the phones, we discovered we had been there for THREE hours!! And hadn't noticed. I guess time really does fly when your not paying attention and having fun. Lunch was definitely in order.
Again, we chose roof top dining, our first choice was a little sketchy with dirt and bottle strewn over the concrete. A dirty roof, does not bode well for the kitchen. We made the unanimous vote to move, and boy was it a good choice.
Yet again, I was lost in thought, loosing the conversation Solen and Robin were having, until their voices were just a delightful murmur in my ears. Down below my rooftop I watched wiry men in bike-rickshaws tote around plump tourists, poking their meaty fingers out at the children playing with puppies in the streets. Through the streets, a steady stream of back packers crosses my vision, couples walking through with backpacks larger than themselves. The streets where like woven patterns my eyes couldn't pick out. Something I learned that day was that according to old customs it was considered bad luck to have two doors facing each other, as one man may inadvertently see another mans wife at home. Jagged corners and jutting buildings, stuck out of the ground like sets of uneven teeth. One house was built, with four square walls and no roof, but a tarp over one end with the beds, and the rest of the area open. It felt a bit voyeuristic, but I was so intrigued by their home. Each time I would spot one thing, it would lead to another. From the giant woodpile, to the wood burning stove, to the lounging family on straw mats, to the puppies and goats playing in tandem in the dirty court yard. I was shaken out of my musings by the delivery of our Tali(again - it really doesn't get old, I still dream of Tali)and fruit teas and laughed about how crazy our lives were. Just an average Tuesday morning at the Taj Mahal.
We left, our bellies filled with warm sloshing tea and tali, in search of a bike rickshaw to take us across the river. To see the Red fort and the other side of the Taj, the red fort looks out on the river. The red brick almost seem to glow with a luminosity that came from inside the stones. Here the king of India kept his hundreds of wives and mistresses. The building was pretty enough and the monkey families running around kept me pretty entertained, we frolicked in the sun shine.
After taking pictures and looking around we went back to our rickshaws and slowly worked our way across the river to catch the sun setting over the Taj and riverbed. An almost magical way to end an unbelievable day of crazy rickshaws, slack jawed boys and grand sites.
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