Glimpses of the Taj Mahal

Until five days from now, I’m traveling down memory lane. Yesterday I shared some glimpses of Darjeeling. Today, the Taj Mahal. We were lucky when we visited the Taj because it was a voting day and crowds were few. We started at the crack of dawn and were among the first through the gate.

As for so many before us, this was our first real life glimpse. This is where our guide explained the symmetry of the Taj Mahal including all that is around it:

See how few people! We had the whole place to ourselves. What luck.

You don’t see the Gateway in photos as much, but it’s also beautiful:

Sparkling like diamonds in the rising rays of sun:

It is surprising what you see up close — how much color is actually embedded into the Taj Mahal:

And how much contrasting pattern:

It makes you want to look from great distances but also explore every surface real close. How many buildings have that quality?

When exploring up close, you discover things like … replacement parts:

The mosque must be getting a little adjustment here and there:

Until next time …

All photos by me. Or our guide. I couldn’t bear to mar these with watermarks!