One Down. Six to Go.

      I recently visited a Wonder of the World to end the year of 2012. In India, we toured the city of Agra and visited the Taj Mahal. We drove to this city that has attracted many tourists from all over the world including my family and I. Our first stop was exploring the tomb of King Akbar. The entrance was a large gate with Arabic writing carved in it because he was Muslim. The main tomb was also an enormous and grand structure with complex designs and arches. Once we stepped inside, I was amazed by the stunning artwork and paintings on the walls. The burial chamber with Akbar's tomb was white with four windows. Light came through these windows and lit up the entire room and provided ventilation. The tomb glowed and I was filled with wonder. I then realized how people feel when visiting ancient Egyptian pyramids. The feeling of the presence of someone of great importance was intriguing.
   
       We shortly arrived at a 5-star hotel. The place was beautiful and exquisite and we dropped of our bags at the hotel room. The rooms were big, the bed was huge, and the t.v. was in English! What more could you ask for? Oh, I forgot, they also had American plugs so I could finally charge my iPod! :) And the breakfast, the next morning was even better than Hawaii's! It had foods of much variety and it was delicious!  My parents also wanted me to see the luxurious part of India and I was enjoying it very much! Our next stop was finally the incredible Taj Mahal. We arrived with a tour guide, and already outside the gate, there was a humongous line just to pass security. And the pushy ladies behind us were not helping the mood at all. To make things even worse, the ladies line took forever while the mens' went by as quickly as a classroom getting emptied when school ends. This was due to the purses and bags the women carried with them.  Once our group was rejoined, I was awed by the... gate in front of me. Even the gate was impressive. It had 22 small domes all lined up on the top symbolizing the years it took to build it. The building was decorated in stones and Arabic. We finally got our first glimpse of the magnificent burial site for Mughal emperor Shah Jahan's wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The fascinating site was made of marble and had semi-precious stones inlaid inside of it in the design of flowers. Also, the words of the Qur'an were written in stone on the outside of the entrance in a rectangle. The fountain of clear blue water shot up continuously to add to the wondrous scene. What also stunned me was the amount of people and their ethnic differences. There were people from all over the world and different languages could be heard everywhere. People were taking pictures in all sorts of positions, but the most common was where they would appear to be picking up the Taj Mahal from the tip. Even I did it. :) The line to enter this monument was enormous but it was worth the wait. The line wrapped around the building twice! Waiting in line gave me the chance to take photos and take in the scene around me. After much pushing and anxious wait, our turn arrived to step inside the resting ground of Mumtaz Mahal and then later Shah Jahan. Unfortunately, due to security, much of the section was closed. And no photography was allowed, but people like disobeying rules, so you can predict what happened. :P Our tour guide showed us something interesting between all the crowded jostling. When a light was fixed on a particular reddish-orange stone, it would glow like fire. Also past the partitions, we could see the tomb of Shah Jahan and his wife.  It was truly one of the best experiences I had during my trip in India.
   
      Eventually, the next day, I saw the Agra Fort which was also impressive. Pretty nice place to be put  on house arrest like Shah Jahan was. By his own son. They must have had a great father - son relationship. From some of the rooms, we could see the Taj Mahal in the distance. Or so we were told. It was a foggy day and we couldn't see more than half a mile in front of us. The fort was surrounded by two pits that were once filled. One was a moat with alligators and the other used to have wild animals like tigers in them. Unfortunately, more than half of the fort was closed for visitors, because it is being used by the army. The fort was very well maintained, but still looked old. Overall, Agra was one of my favorite parts of the entire trip. I really hope I can go back there again sometime soon and you all should definitely visit it. Just don't stop in Jatipura on your way there. It will not give you good memories.

Just 6 more Wonders of the World to go visit. :)