Oddly enough the Taj Mahal is even more spectacular in person.

What they don’t tell you is that on either side are two other buildings, which if they were anywhere else in the world would be pretty damn impressive…

..not to mention the entrance gates and gardens around them.

I got there when the Taj opened at 6:30 a.m. to watch the sunrise and I walked around until around 8:45 a.m.. By the time the sun was up, the walls looked like they were glowing in the light.

Then I went to the Agra Fort, which puts any fort in Europe to shame for its size.

After the Taj Mahal was built in honor of his third wife, the emperor, Shah Jahan, was deposed by his son, Aurangzeb, and imprisoned in the fort. Shah Jahan was kept in a room where he could see the Taj and the tomb of his beloved wife down the river.

And you thought your family had problems.

As a first time visiter to India, I had of course heard the, perhaps over recited, quote, “India is an assault on the senses.”  And while it is accurate, I do believe that I was unprepared for the cacophony of sound, the crush of people, and wild array of colors.  I don’t remember if it was Lord Curzon who said it first, but over a hundred years later it still holds true.

I had fun walking around the Red Fort:

and the Jama Masjid.