The Taj Mahal is glorious and majestic and certainly lives up to all the expectations one would have of one of the most signature landmarks of the country.

Our trusty driver took us on the 4.5 hour drive from Delhi to Agra, where we stayed just one night - enough time to see the Agra Fort and Taj Mahal. The fort was definitely impressive, but cannot really be expanded on at the moment because Clare instead of the History teacher is writing this blog, and she is currently unwilling to look up the important details again. It was large, the walls had beautiful inlay tiles (ah, there we go - a buzzword!), and there was a lovely view of the Taj Mahal across the field - giving us a sneak peek of what was to come.

And so because Clare felt the need to comment on the "beautiful inlay tiles" to our tour guide, this turned into an impromptu visit to the shop where local artists were honing their craft and there were ample opportunities to buy products. (Rookie move. Lesson learned.) We quickly managed to move on to our ultimate destination, the Taj Mahal, in time for late afternoon and sunset. It was actually much less busy than we thought it would be - our driver told us that on the weekends there are 10x the guests!! So we had plenty of time to wander at our own leisure and catch some perfect lighting off the white marble. We heard many tourists exclaiming how the visit was a dream come true for them, so it felt neat to be part of that collective experience. It really is a stunning, symmetrical feat.