The entrance fee for the Taj Mahal was a bit steep because we are not Indian nationals, but we got a free water bottle and shoe covers for that price. The security at the site was also quite tough. Dave and Jared had to wait in a long long to be frisked by male security guards. There line was about 15 minutes long. Beth, Emily, and Maureen were in a much shorter line to be frisked by female guards. It would seem the women were paying the men back for stereotypical long lines at their restrooms. We entered the Taj Mahal complex and were greeted by a very nice view of the tomb. Our first action was to pass our various cameras around and take pictures with various people from our group. 
We then began walking up towards the beautiful structure. In order to get onto the platform we were asked to either take off our shoes or use the shoe covers provided. We decided to use the shoe covers (as you can see in the picture below) for fear of never seeing our shoes again.
The building itself is very impressive. The beautiful white marble is inlayed with precious stones in beautiful floral patterns. There are also flowing verses from the Koran that are used as decoration along the main entrance.
We made it to the Taj Mahal complex at around 5:30 and it was scheduled to close at 7:00. It was very pretty as the sun was setting. Unfortunately, there is no electric lighting inside the tomb, so it was very difficult to see anything with the failing light from the windows. We also missed out on a chance to see the other side and get close to the river behind the tomb. The guards began herding people towards the exit at about 6:30. We snapped one last picture as we neared the front gate.
As we were waiting for the electric bus to take us back to the car park and our taxi, we were accosted by countless salesmen. Everyone thought that their trinket was the best, but Beth had her eye on a small plastic snowglobe keychain. The kid started working on selling it to Dave for about Rs.200. This converts to about $5, which the keychain was definitely not worth. By ignoring the salesman completely, Dave got the price down to Rs.20 ($0.50). This was still a bit much for the item, so Beth talked him the rest of the way down to Rs.7 ($0.20). Her negotiating skills are very well honed and she has the keychain to prove it.
The next morning we awoke to a buffet breakfast and then headed off to Fatephur Sikri, the abandoned capital of the Mughals. On the drive, we saw a herd of water buffalo taking a dip on the side of the road.
The city itself was very interesting and full of beautiful buildings. It only served as the capital of the empire for about a dozen years before it was abandoned (they ran out of water). Many of the buildings are still very much as they were 400 years ago, though the treasures have been stripped away by now.
Dave loves to use the timer on our camera, so we decided to take a picture of the crew in front of the place where imperial audiences were given. On one of the pictures, Beth and Emily decided to run away after Dave set up the camera. It turned out nicely, so we included both of the pictures for your enjoyement.
Adjacent to Fatephur Sikri is a large mosque that was built around the same time. Again, we had to take our shoes off. This time, instead of cool white marble at the end of the day, we were asked to walk on burning red sandstone in the heat of the sun. A quick video of the courtyard was about all we could get before our feet melted. The video starts with the mosque itself and then pans to the main gate which is just to the left. The white marble structure just to the right of the mosque is a shrine to a Sufi Muslim mystic.
After Fatehpur Sikri, we made the trek back to Delhi and the same hotel we had stayed at earlier. We were welcomed by a cute little lizard in our room, and a nice soft bed.
The next morning we caught the Shatabdi back to Dehradun at 6:50am. It was a nice relaxing trip without all of our students running around the place. When we made it to the platform, we were welcomed by a group of students from a local tourist professionals school. They gave us flowers and maps in celebration of World Tourism Day. They looked very excited to see white tourists, so we didn't have the heart to tell them that we lived in Mussoorie (we were afraid they'd take the gifts back, as well).
We made one last stop at McDonald's and a couple of other places before taking our taxi back home.
Today, we have been resting and recovering from our vacation. We came back a day early so that we'd have Sunday off before the kids return to school. It was a wonderful trip. We feel much more confident in our ability to travel in India. We had some more veteran friends that could show us the ropes. Now we're ready to take any friends and family that want to visit to all the sites of India. We'll see you here soon...
Dave and Beth
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