Taj mahal

December 15
Travel JOURNAL
Latest to the list of places I have visited is TAJ Mahal.Went with family, so it was a touch different, unlike our unorganized back-pack, it was more streamlined with all the hotel and train booking done in advance.
I Booked hotel Taj Plaza, pretty decent hotel 500 odd meters from the TAJ and with promotional offer from makemytrip.com it was a steal. Boarded Bhopal shatabdi up early in the morning at 6:15. Train was bang on time and we reached the land of Taj at 11:00.
Whenever i travel with mom, i have to draw line between being myself (spendthrift, no negotiation) to moms idea of responsibilty (hard core negotiations).
so instead of booking the hotel transfers in advance we decided to board a three wheeler from station to the hotel.Hotel was nice. nothing fancy, but served the purpose of comfortable stay and close vicinity to the only place we wanted to visit.
Like no trip is complete without a bit of hiccups and chaos, this one was no different. we had only 01 day to see Taj as our reurn was booked for next day.
as we went to see the taj in the evening around 4ish, we were told that there are some forign dignatories who have come 2 to visit taj and so it will be closed for civilians like us.
We tooka sigh of releif when the news came that the dignatories have been quick enough in their appreciation of the taj and decided to vacate the place by 5.
but our releif was short lived as because of anticipation and the fact that taj closes at 7:30, there were huge and i mean really huge, 1000 meter long queues to get the tickets.
Living in India has its own benifits, and one of em is the JUGAAT factor. if you find urself in any trouble, when the going gets tough, when all the doors are closed and u think u have no where to hide, close ur eyes and say this mantra, 'jugaat'. and be4 u know u will be surrounded by angels sent by god. (Touts as they are called).
as it turned out, i shelled out 02 hunded Rs note and we were taken from one short muslim gali 2 another and a secret gate to enter TAJ.
Although there was some chaos and queues there as well but we were allowed in, No questions asked, no harm done. and all i could say was India rocks,
We spent close to 02 hours sitting, viewing and clicking TAJ from every nook and corner possible.
All in al it was good trip, a nice change for mom.