So... Here I am, back in front of it again, after a magical morning. Writing in my journal while waiting for breakfast in the hotel terrace. I feel so amazed and happy. Serene. Mystified. A bit like floating on thin air. Yup, I know it sounds strange but... I did it again! And once more, I can hardly believe it. Me!
Waking up at 5:30 am after a previous day travelling and discovering one new festival of India, was not an easy task.
That previous day I had taken 2 trains and I had been bashed by mobs of men that wanted to put color powder all over me. A mere excuse to just touch my face and force me to join the Holi party. I had come for that so... no complaints!
Luckily, however, nobody had offered me to drink a milky looking concoction that work colleagues had already advised me to never ever accept, under no circumstances (apparently is made with Marihuana!!) I bet lots of the people I had crossed were fully intoxicated on it.
The memories of fully crowded streets, pick powder floating all around the place, kids throwing water to rickshaws and people alike and closed up temples to keep the mobs away comes back running through my mind on my way to the morning queue. I can't avoid throwing an smile to the night pale sky slowly disappearing into a new day.
I have had no time for shower or breakfast, but I don't care. I'm so excited!
One hour of morning queueing afterwards, the big wooden doors start opening and the queue has grown to a good hundred people, from the small dozen when we arrived. You might think that queuing for an hour at 6am is blunt crazy, but it turns out for the first hour only the first 25 people in the queue are allowed in. I was not going to take a chance!
The price was small to pay for the great gift to come: the magic of the sunrise colors, the quietness of the morning when the fountains have not been started, the peacefulness of a place that is still discovering its first visitors and welcoming them with an smile.
As I pass from the Eastern gate to the centre arch that makes for the first main passage to the gardens and monument, I cannot not contain the emotion or a few tears of happiness. I know, it sounds silly. I just had never imagined I will reach this far and being there was another of my "live is a funny place to be in" moment.
Now, the greatest Taj Mahal just in front of me. Peace. Happiness. A sense of greatness, of being doing something out of the ordinary, of stepping into ancient History. A very very big smile.
I retain little and care less about the things going around me, other than this magnificent building and my own party. When finally left to roam around alone is when I relaxed the most and start feeling part of it again, part of my dream and the History within it.
It's time to leave. I am now hungry and it's getting hot. Plus there are other things to do and I need a bit of a rest. But I am silent and a bit down. I looked back and watched for a last time. "Do we say Good bye or See you soon?" "See you soon!"
Waking up at 5:30 am after a previous day travelling and discovering one new festival of India, was not an easy task.
That previous day I had taken 2 trains and I had been bashed by mobs of men that wanted to put color powder all over me. A mere excuse to just touch my face and force me to join the Holi party. I had come for that so... no complaints!
Luckily, however, nobody had offered me to drink a milky looking concoction that work colleagues had already advised me to never ever accept, under no circumstances (apparently is made with Marihuana!!) I bet lots of the people I had crossed were fully intoxicated on it.
Me and an Indian Sir in a temple of Mathura during Holi festival this 6th of March
The memories of fully crowded streets, pick powder floating all around the place, kids throwing water to rickshaws and people alike and closed up temples to keep the mobs away comes back running through my mind on my way to the morning queue. I can't avoid throwing an smile to the night pale sky slowly disappearing into a new day.
I have had no time for shower or breakfast, but I don't care. I'm so excited!
One hour of morning queueing afterwards, the big wooden doors start opening and the queue has grown to a good hundred people, from the small dozen when we arrived. You might think that queuing for an hour at 6am is blunt crazy, but it turns out for the first hour only the first 25 people in the queue are allowed in. I was not going to take a chance!
The price was small to pay for the great gift to come: the magic of the sunrise colors, the quietness of the morning when the fountains have not been started, the peacefulness of a place that is still discovering its first visitors and welcoming them with an smile.
As I pass from the Eastern gate to the centre arch that makes for the first main passage to the gardens and monument, I cannot not contain the emotion or a few tears of happiness. I know, it sounds silly. I just had never imagined I will reach this far and being there was another of my "live is a funny place to be in" moment.
Now, the greatest Taj Mahal just in front of me. Peace. Happiness. A sense of greatness, of being doing something out of the ordinary, of stepping into ancient History. A very very big smile.
It might not look like it but I did this picture of Taj Mahal all alone and just with my phone :)
Follows a long session of guide tours around, pictures in many different stands and smiles, crowds getting in the middle, socks for my shoes so that the white marble is not damaged and a long list of stories of ancient love and battles.I retain little and care less about the things going around me, other than this magnificent building and my own party. When finally left to roam around alone is when I relaxed the most and start feeling part of it again, part of my dream and the History within it.
It's time to leave. I am now hungry and it's getting hot. Plus there are other things to do and I need a bit of a rest. But I am silent and a bit down. I looked back and watched for a last time. "Do we say Good bye or See you soon?" "See you soon!"
View of the Taj Mahal from the terrace of Hotel Kamal