![\"\"](\"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Screen-Shot-2018-12-07-at-5.29.45-AM.jpg\")
<\/a>\u00a0Garden outside our room![\"\"](\"http:\/\/gordonandjudy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/IMG_3374.jpg\")
<\/a>A few Christmas decorations<\/p>\nLaksme picks us up at 9:00.\u00a0We pick up Shaym, our guide, on the way.\u00a0He gives us some of the basic info about the Taj Mahal.\u00a0 It took 22 years to build from 1631 to 1653.\u00a0 It was built by the 5th<\/sup>Mughal Emperor Shahjahan in honor of his wife who died during childbirth of their 14th<\/sup>child.<\/p>\n We\u2019re driving thru fairly heavy traffic, and suddenly it\u2019s time to get out.\u00a0 I\u2019m really surprised because it\u2019s seems like we\u2019re in the middle of the city, honking horns, etc.\u00a0 Every picture of the Taj Mahal I\u2019ve seen had me thinking it was sitting out away from the city in the countryside.<\/p>\n The walk along a peaceful paved road (no traffic) took about 10 minutes, before we arrived at the ticket area and security.\u00a0 The crowd was active but not overly large.\u00a0 The lines to get in weren\u2019t long and moved quickly.\u00a0 Security is heavy with bag and body scanning.\u00a0 The temperature today is around 65 degrees, and comfortable.\u00a0 This would be a miserable place in the summer heat with large crowds, but today, it couldn\u2019t be nicer.<\/p>\n Our guide has great knowledge about the design and building of the monument.\u00a0 It\u2019s all marble and all the floral decoration and writing on the gates are inlaid stones.\u00a0 The amount of delicate work to piece it all together on such a huge building is hard to imagine in this day and age.<\/p>\n The advantage of having our own guide is he really knows how and where to go to get the best pictures.\u00a0 He had us posing all over the property.\u00a0 He basically took over our camera.\u00a0 We\u2019ve never had so many pictures of ourselves.\u00a0 It\u2019s digital overkill.<\/p>\n When we finish, we walk out and climb in a wooden cart to ride out to the edge of the property to our car.\u00a0 We get great information wherever we go, and our transportation is ready and waiting at the end to whisk us to our next destination.\u00a0 This is a great way to see India.<\/p>\n We\u2019re delivered to a marble factory to watch some of the local craftsmen as they work to cut and shape pieces of various stones to make the inlaid designs on the building and now, some of their own designs.\u00a0 We\u2019re told that some of the workers are descendants of the original stone artisans that built the Taj Mahal.<\/p>\n Our next stop is Agra Fort.\u00a0Yeah, yeah, what\u2019s the big deal?\u00a0When you get inside it becomes apparent why it\u2019s a big deal.\u00a0 This fort was built and improved by three different Mughul emperors.\u00a0 They ruled India during the 15th<\/sup>and 16th<\/sup>century.\u00a0 Each emperor put his own architectural signature on the building.\u00a0 75% of the building is still in use by the Indian Army.\u00a0Tourists are only allowed in the 25% of the fort where the families lived.\u00a0 It\u2019s built on a hill above the Yumana River, looking out over the countryside, with a great view of the Taj Mahal in the distance.<\/p>\n After the fort, we had a chance to eat lunch.\u00a0 After lunch, we opt to go back to the hotel to relax and enjoy the amenities of the hotel.\u00a0We\u2019re looking forward to some rest time.\u00a0We\u2019re moving from city to city so quickly and seeing so much, I can barely keep up with the writing.\u00a0 The occasional slow internet makes the photo uploads drag.\u00a0 If I miss a day, it\u2019s hard to catch up, we\u2019re so totally involved in traveling and touring sites.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Had a great breakfast and wandered around the grounds of the hotel (Jaypee Palace Hotel) this morning before going out in the city.\u00a0 It\u2019s a huge hotel complex with gardens and a convention complex. \u00a0Garden outside our roomA few Christmas … Continue reading <\/a>Entrance Gate<\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/a> <\/a><\/a>\u00a0Looking back at the entrance<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a> <\/a> <\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0Agra Fort entrance<\/a><\/a> <\/a><\/a>Pavilion where the Moghal rulers held court<\/p>\n<\/a>\u00a0More digital overload<\/a><\/a> <\/a><\/p>\n