The Taj Mahal and the Baby Taj Mahal.

Taj Mahal

July 3rd, 2015

I flew to Delhi the night before and arrived about midnight, got a few hours sleep before meeting our driver at 6:00 AM who took us to the Taj Mahal.  The ride between New Delhi was three and a half hours each way.  This meant it was a long day before me and my coworkers hopped on a red-eye to Singapore.

I would love to say great things about the Taj Mahal, I would love to say that I saw the Taj Mahal and it was worth the drive but I cannot.  Technically, I saw the Taj Mahal – well I saw the back of the Taj Mahal from across the river.  I didn’t see the front of it nor did I get a chance to go into it.

You see, when we planned this trip, one of my coworkers asked if there was anything I wanted to see in India.  Of course the Taj was the first thing came out of my mouth.   We made our plans and booked travel only to learn a few days prior to going to the Taj Mahal that the Taj Mahal isn’t open on Fridays.  Kind of a bummer to say the least and although I am glad I got to see the back of the Taj Mahal from a distance, I would have loved it a lot more if I had seen it from the front and was able to go inside!

The Tomb of I’timad-ud-Daulah, nicknamed the Baby Taj because it is not only smaller, it is considered a draft for the actual Taj Mahal which was built by his grandson years later.  The Baby Taj was built in the early 1600s and used many of the same materials and techniques that the Taj Mahal used.