Taj Mahal

It was on the last day of my third visit to India that I could finally get a chance to visit the love monument, Taj Mahal. It was on a cold day in December, on the 12^th to be exact. We were done with all the meetings and our flight was late at night, so we had an entire day to explore.

My friends and I were staying at Embassy of The Republic of Indonesia in New Delhi, around 220 Kms away from Taj Mahal. Therefore, we had to leave really early in the morning. We set our alarms at 4 a.m. the previous night. Being a just-in-case-person that I am, I set 3 alarms, 5 minutes apart from each other :D

And of course, I woke up before my first alarm rang. I took out a red saree and choli that I bought online two years before. I had tried wearing it once, but it’d been a long time ago, and I didn’t remember it then. So I decided to go to YouTube and typed “Saree tutorial” in the search bar. I watched two videos to be able to wear the saree, and it took me like half an hour. Hats off to all those Indian women who wear saree as their daily attire!

Our journey started at 5.15. We went to Agra by a minivan. As it was still early, we decided to catch some more sleep on the way. I woke up like two hours later, when we were on a highway, I remember it was called Taj Express highway. I looked out the window and saw fields everywhere; I felt like going out the minivan and ran to the fields and sing and dance haha.

I asked the driver how much longer to reach our destination, he said around 2 hours. So I decided to sleep again.

When I woke up again, we were already in a small city. I saw more cows here than in Delhi. The driver pulled over and said we’re already there. Everyone got out the minivan. We’re then immediately greeted by small kids selling souvenirs. At first I smiled politely and said no, but soon I just ignored them and walked fast. Anyway, the driver introduced us to a tour guide, I don’t remember his name though.

The entrance ticket for Taj Mahal + Mausoleum for a foreigner adult was Rs. 1,300. Yeah, that’s quite expensive, but not more expensive than what foreigners would have to pay to enter Borobudur Temple in Indonesia. After paying for the tickets, we’re given a mineral water bottle and shoe covers. To get to the entrance gate, we had to take an electric bus. It was so cold there, around 7⁰ or so, and my friends were shivering even though they’re wearing thick jackets. Meanwhile, I, who usually can’t handle temperature bellow 16⁰, was feeling well even though I was just wearing a choli and saree.

Before we could enter the monument, we had to go through a quite strict security post. I met two security women who looked disapprovingly at me. I don’t remember how, but they eventually fixed my saree. Yeah, they practically undressed and dressed me again. They were doing it so fast, too fast that my mind couldn’t process, “There, now you look beautiful in this saree.” one of them said while smiling. I smiled back and said thank you.

When I got out from the security post, I saw my friends waiting for me. The guide said, “They must have fixed your saree.”

I nodded, “Yeah. I guess this happens a lot.”

The guide then told us the story of Taj Mahal. I don’t wanna rewrite it here because it can be easily found on the internet. One thing that I didn’t read on the internet was the guide said that the king, Shah Jahan, cut off the workers’ hands so that they wouldn’t make a similar monument. I doubt that it’s true though.

After telling us the brief history of Taj Mahal, the guide said, “You have two hours to explore this place. I’ll meet you in this exact spot in two hours.”

So my friends and I went exploring. We took so many pictures with Taj Mahal as the background. A friend asked to take a picture sitting on the iconic Lady Diana bench in front of the monument. It wasn’t an easy job at all as there were so many tourists wanting to take pictures there as well. Thus, we decided to take pictures at other spots.

Next, we climbed the monument and got into the mausoleum.

There, we had to take off our shoes or use the shoe cover. I chose the latter as the floor was a bit wet due to rain the previous night.

We didn’t spend much time in the mausoleum. We just saw a man doing tricks with a flashlight and we’re “forced” to pay some amount of money. Next time I visit this place again, I won’t buy the mausoleum entrance ticket. So yeah, like 5 minutes later we got out and took pictures outside. There, we met an Indian family consisting of a man and his two aunts. The man said his aunts were from a village and they were visiting him in Delhi, so he took them around. That’s really nice of him. I can’t imagine an Indonesian man doing the same thing. Anyway, from this spot, we can also see Yamuna river; it’s one among 7

sacred rivers in Hinduism. I took some pictures with the river in the background.

Soon, it was time to meet our guide again. He showed us a spot from which we can take a picture with Taj Mahal as the background and with a natural frame. It was so beautiful.

After giving some tips to the guide, we got into our minivan. At first, we planned to visit Agra Fort, but since there was an urgent issue, we had to drive back to the embassy. Hopefully, we would have more time to explore next time.