What a wonderful way to kick off the new month. We hopped on the bus this morning and went to see the Taj Mahal at sunrise. I’m sure that we’ve all seen something which just can’t be adequately described in words or pictures, and the Taj in one of them if not THE one.

I think the most magical thing about it is the motive that Sha Jahan had for building it. He wasn’t a Pharoh trying to achieve immortality, or a King trying to honor himself. This was a man so in love with his wife that he chose to honor her in the grandest way possible after she died in childbirth. Quite amazing. One thing I didn’t know was that the minarets around the Taj lean slightly outward so that in the event of an earthquake, the towers will not fall on the tomb. Now there’s forward thinking!

The only downside to seeing something that everyone wants to see is that invariably, everyone is there at the same time and in a country of nearly 2 billion, that’s a lot. Fortunately, the immensity of the Taj makes the number of tourists milling around it seem totally insignificant – even the Japanese who insist on taking photos of themselves in a position that looks like they’re holding the Taj up or the myriad Japanese and Chinese making the peace sign for the benefit of who knows whom. The Taj is amazing, mystical, majestic and….somber, which I guess is fitting for a tomb.

From there we jumped back on the bus and headed for Jaipur, the pink city, where I am now. It’s pretty cool to see people in their daily lives and not in tourist mode. There were families of six packed into rickshaws built for 2, camels carting hay, women by the side of the road mixing cow dung with straw to make fuel for cooking stoves. Like most of India, everything is happening at once so you scarcely have time to take it all in. I had my headphones in and listening to Champagne Supernova by Oasis. I can highly recommend the combination – it seemed like I was watching a documentary.

Next stop, Jaipur. More red faced monkeys to deal with.