After our colourful days in Jaipur, we took another morning train to Agra to see one of my must-do’s on our trip: the Taj Mahal. Apart from this famous building, Agra as a city is not very spectacular. It also has a fort and more monuments, but nothing more spectacular than we had already seen. We gave ourselves 2 1/2 days to focus primarily on the Taj Mahal and enjoy it. So when we arrived, we relaxed for the rest of the day and went to bed early, as the next day started at 4:30 am. Seeing the Taj Mahal at sunrise is probably one of the most beautiful and special moments. So it was absolutely worth it to get up in the dark and queue for tickets. Of course, we weren’t alone. In the main season up to 100000 people visit the Taj everyday. Luckily it was low season and we only had to share it with around 50000 that day :). But not everyone gets up so early and those who do go there for the same reason: to enjoy this magical moment in peace. And magical it truly was! Watching the sun rise over this majestic masterpiece of beauty, you can understand that this buildimg was made for love and not for function. A former emperor built this tomb for his deceased favourite wife with the intention of representing paradise on earth. It certainly is the most beautiful and emotional building I have ever seen. When you see the sun rise over it, bringing it to life with every stream of light, with every colour change, it feels like this building captures sadness and happiness alike. Once again, looking at the pictures it seems impossible to capture that moment. One has to come here to experience it oneself. We were thus incredibly happy to see that the Indian’s take care of this beauty like a pearl. While the rest of the country seems to be ruled by chaos and dirt, this place is the most guarded, clean, organized and maintained place ever. It looks so shiny and new, one could think it was built yesterday.
We ended our time in Agra by visiting the ‚Baby Taj‘ the next day, the tomb of the emperor’s grandfather, and passing Agra Fort on our way to the river bank to watch the sun set over the Taj Mahal. The following morning, we took our last train in India to travel to New Delhi from where our plane would leave to Dubai. We only stayed there for one night, as we were not so keen on another big city after our Mumbai experience. So we stayed in the better part of Delhi, New Delhi, which clearly seems to try and be a model for the new India. Most of the city part was clean and much greener and we found advertisement for a clean and green Delhi not only in newspapers, but also on street signs. Finally leaving from Delhi airport was maybe the best example for it. Not only a spotless and highly modern airport, it was also extremely guarded and secure. Without a valid ticket, you cannot even get into the entrance hall. It certainly felt like a good transition to our next destination, an extreme opposite to India: Dubai.
