"A teardrop on the cheek of eternity"

That is how Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore described the Taj Mahal, which I'm lucky enough to be seeing for the second time. The entry fee is now 750 rupees for foreign nationals (and 20 for the locals). Our fearless leader rolls his eyes when he tells us that two-thirds of this theoretically goes for city maintenance. It also buys us a little tourist bag with a bottle of water and Santa's-elves red paper slippers to wear on the marble. Not sure what the rationale is, as we take off our shoes at every other site and go barefoot with everyone else. Actually, the Taj was the one place I really LIKED going barefoot, feeling that cool Mughal marble on your soles/soul.

At least you can still go inside the mausoleum. Word has it that the interior may be closed off in the coming months, just as pre-sunrise access is no longer available.

I was doing a sketch of the mosque there (left), when a guy stopped to watch and tell me it was a good sketch. Which was nice... except then he tried talking me into drawing his daughter! Took me about five minutes to wiggle out of that.

On the day, the Taj Mahal was barely visible across the Yamuna River from the Agra Fort through the fog/smog. The cool thing about sketching is that not only can you eliminate power lines and other 'unsightly' objects from your subject, but also 'see through' haze. I love doing what the Nikon can't!

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