We did manage to get up early to head out to the Taj Mahal before the hoards of tourists, but not quite early enough for sunrise when the Taj is apparently at it's best. When we got to the gate there was no queue to speak of (although, of course, our rickshaw driver ripped us off by dropping us a good bit away from where we asked, and paid, to be dropped, but at least the walk was through nice gardens and it was a very pleasant morning).
Security at the entrance gate was very tight though (everywhere in India seems mad paranoid now after the terrorist attacks, as many of the hotels and even internet cafes ask for our passports so they can photocopy them, and many places have metal detectors (that never seem to be switched on!)). The guards meticulously checked through our small daypacks, and I was told I couldn't bring in my MP3 player, as no electronic devices where allowed. I was telling the guard to just throw the MP3 player away, as I thought it was broken anyway (turned out it wasn't broken at all, just the display is broken). But just then Sarah told me she was told she couldn't bring in her MP3 player either, or her book (the 'books not allowed' thing is weird - you are allowed to bring in guidebooks, but not other reading material. I can only assume it's because they don't want tourists lounging around the grounds all day reading - which was what we had planned). So Sarah had to go back out and deposit all our 'dangerous' materials in a locker.
So while Sarah did that I strolled on into the main complex. At first you approach a massive arched gateway, and as you pass through it the Taj Mahal itself materialises right smack-bang in the middle of the central arch. I know it's all mad cliche and everything, but the building simply is stunning. It immediately reminded me of the book 'Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance', which investigates the nature of 'quality' - this building struck me immediately as the very embodiment of architectural beauty. It really is the most beautiful building I've ever seen, and in that regard it's akin to Iguazu Falls being the most spectacular natural wonder I've ever seen (as those who know me well know, 'best evers' are one of my favorite things!).
But after 10 minutes there was still no sign of Sarah. I went back to the gate, thinking she must have gotten held up again for some other reason, but there was no sign of her. I thought maybe she'd passed me as I was reading an information panel, so I went back to gaze at the Taj. Still no sign of her, so after a bit longer I went back to the gate again for the last time. If I didn't see her here I was just going to have to go ahead and explore the complex on my own.
But then she re-appeared and it turned out that the lockers were miles away, and that they had tried to charge Sarah a small fee. Our book expressly states that the lockers are free, and after paying so much to get into the Taj itself Sarah was, on principle, refusing to pay a rupee more.
I was quite frustrated at this point, after not knowing what Sarah had been up to for so long, and so I told her to just pay the fee and let's go, but she was adamant about sticking to her guns. Fair play to her I suppose (normally I'd agree with her 100%, but in this case I just wanted to get in to see the Taj properly - there's a time and place for sticking to your principles I reckon, but at least Sarah was expressing a principle, something I nag her about not doing the odd time!).
Anyway, Sarah's perseverance actually paid-off, much to my amazement. The head security guy actually came around to Sarah's point-of-view and allowed us give him our MP3 players in a plastic bag. He also allowed us take in our reading books with us, and told us that he would be going off duty at 2pm, so we'd better be back to collect our stuff before then.
So off we skipped into the Taj Mahal having shook up the system a little bit, although it took Sarah a wee bit longer to calm down completely. So we spent the entire morning just pottering about the grounds and just soaking up the majesty of the gardens, the small museum and of course the Taj Mahal itself.
One other thing really stuck me about the whole place though, and it wasn't a pleasant thought at all. Basically the overwhelming opulence of the whole complex, and the massive marble structure of the Taj itself, made me feel a tad uncomfortable. It was the same feeling I get when visiting huge christian cathedrals, and has to do with the moral conundrum I have justifying the very existence of these awe-inspiring edifices. In the case of the churches, I find it hard to reconcile the ideas of piety and being humble with a massive, imposing structure like a cathedral - the upkeep of which would surely feed a small army of poverty-stricken local urchins.
In the case of the Taj, the much-repeated story of it being built for love has recently come under great suspicion though. According to the Rough Guide it's now thought that the Taj Mahal is more a monument to the the builder's self-regarded Greatness as it is to his love of his dead wife. One strong theory suggests one of the reasons the builder (Emperor Shah Jahan), was ousted and imprisoned by his own son was because he was bankrupting the entire state with his megolamanical building projects. And it was this thought that occurred to me as I strolled about, that the building of this beautiful structure must have led to untold suffering in it's day, and is really just a monument to a megalomanic - although naturally all such thoughts were dampened by the shear damn beauty of the thing!
Anyway, as we finally left the Taj we collected our stuff, with the friendly guards having a bit of a laugh about it all, and we strolled into the adjacent Taj Ganj area to have lunch. First stop was a hotel that the books say has great views of the Taj, but I wasn't that impressed really, and they didn't serve beer, so I just had a honey lemon tea and we left.
My plan was to try and get into the Amarvilas hotel for lunch, as this is apparently one of the best hotels in India. But it was the usual gated hotel experience, where you can't get in without a prior reservation. So we gave up on that and strolled back to the lovely garden of the nearby Sheela Hotel.
After lunch we headed back to the hotel, and later had a lovely dinner in the Park Restaurant that was just a 15 minute stroll away, and where we finally found a bike rental place nearby, which decided my plan for the next day.
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