just got back from a trip to the taj mahal. wasn't planning on visiting it but when i saw that quite a lot of people were going, and knowing that i wasn't probably going to sleep for the next couple of hours anyway, i thought i'd join them. anyway, so quite a few of us - namely emad, deepdesh (and his serbian delegation), the russians, romanians, quite a few people from the alumni congress and i left the hotel at 5:30. got to the taj, walked around for a bit, and then the people who had the Rs. 20 tickets came back (after about a 20 minute trip) and the Rs 750 ticket people stayed back to try and make the most of the amount.

what do i think? it's a big building, made by someone trying to prove his love. what i liked the most was the sunrise, the fact that there was a freakishly loud echo inside the tomb, and that the squirrels weren't scared of us. i'm not a building person, i don't like going to places and spending all my time in buildings. i guess that makes me a really bad tourist. i'd rather be outdoors, spending time with people from the area.

but i'm glad i went. i may never be this close to the taj again, and i dont want to regret it 10 years down the line. i would say it was Rs. 40 well spent.