The Taj!

Truly beautiful, though not as huge as I imagined. I guess seeing all those pictures from clever angles made me think it towered above everything around it for miles. It was more along the lines of St. Peter's in Rome. Very big, but not freaky big. And so gorgeous it kind of hums.

After the Taj Mahal, we took a 12 hour taxi ride from Agra to Rishikesh in these really nice SUVs that were made to seat about 4 fewer people than the 13 in the tour. The entire way we were bouncing around in heavy traffic, passing cars while enormous trucks were blazing towards us head-on, or having to swerve to avoid cows. Sometimes the highway would suddenly drop 6 inches and turn into a dirt road full of huge potholes. Have to say though that the drivers here are amazing and while it looks like any moment could be a huge catastrophe, things seem to work out. This was good mental training for any other driving adventures I might have in India (right now we are on a 5-hour jeep ride back to Delhi - no problem!) and also made me want to take the train whenever possible.

Along the way we stopped in Vrindavan, which is home to the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, or the Hare Krishnas. We joined in on the Hare Krishna chant that keeps on going every day forever there. You know, a lot of people shave their heads and wear saffron robes over here so this place didn't seem unusual at all.
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