Agra, India (aka: the Taj Mahal)

Who flies to the other side of the planet and comes within an hour of seeing the Taj Mahal, and doesn’t see the Taj Mahal?

Nobody. Especially not me.

On the last stop of our India trip, Ryan and I spent about 1.5 days and two nights in Agra, solely so I could see the Taj Mahal.

When we were sitting in Anjuna putting together our last-minute itinerary for my final two weeks in India, Ryan didn’t really understand why I wanted to make an entire trek out to Agra “just for a building.”

“Because, Ryan, it’s a literal ‘Wonder of the World.'”
“…and?”

And then we were kind of back-and-forth on it. Did we really want to take two days out of our precious two weeks just to go see a building?

Again, of course.

“Ryan, it’s a ‘Wonder of the World.’ There are only seven of them. That means something.”

In the end, we decided we could make one quick stop in Agra before leaving India, just so I could go see “just a building.”

So, a full disclaimer: This post is pretty quick, because we didn’t do much else in Agra besides seeing “just a building.”

On our last morning in Jaipur, Ryan and I checked out of our hotel and then hopped into a cab for the 4.5-hour ride to Agra. Our driver stopped several times, so it ended up taking us close to six hours to get there which took up most of our day.

We arrived a little bit before sunset. We checked into our hostel (we opted to stay in a private room at the Hosteller Agra simply because it’s location was a quick stroll away from the Taj Mahal) and then walked to a nearby restaurant for thali.

We knew we wanted to be up early the next day to visit the Taj Mahal —yunno, the whole reason we came to Agra — so we went to sleep pretty early.

We were up at about 6 to get changed, leave our hostel, and walk to the Taj Mahal.

Which left me pretty speechless.

If you’re not familiar with the Taj Mahal, it’s a white marble mausoleum commissioned by the fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, to serve as a monument and tomb for his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The Taj Mahal also houses the tomb of Shah Jahan.

The project was commissioned shortly after Mumtaz Mahal’s death in 1631, and finished in 1648 at a cost of about 5 million rupees — which equates to roughly $78 million in 2024 U.S. dollars.

Even Ryan stopped for a moment upon entering the gates to say “OK. I get it now.”

It really is that incredible.

Also, I need you to know that if you ever see photos of influencers at the Taj Mahal without a single person in sight, those photos are Photoshopped to shit. It was so crowded, and we arrived at about 7 a.m. right after the gates opened.

There are crowds of people pushing in to take photos at the very popular reflecting pool located right in front of the Taj Mahal. Nobody really lines up, and everyone just mills in and out of everyone’s photos. It’s really quite impossible to avoid being in the background of a photo.

With that said, I’m honestly so surprised we didn’t see anyone fall into any of the reflecting pools positioned around the monument.

Ryan and I took our time meandering closer to the Taj Mahal, admiring it from all angles before paying the additional 200 rupees to go inside and see the symbolic tombs of Mumtaz Mahal and Shah Jahan.

Photos aren’t allowed inside so we didn’t take any (you can Google if you’re curious) but the architecture inside was just as gorgeous as the architecture outside.

Both the inside and outside of the building are decorated with precious and semi-precious stone inlays as well as Arabic calligraphy, which mostly quotes passages from the Qaran.

The calligraphy is done in jasper or black marble inlays, and some of the decorative inlays are composed of lapis lazuli, carnelian, agate and garnet.

It really is a stunning sight.

After our tour of the interior, Ryan and I spent a little bit of time in the on-site museum before leaving to go get breakfast. I think we ended up spending about four hours total at the Taj Mahal.

We grabbed breakfast at Joney’s Place, which was a quaint hole-in-the-wall with tiny tables and delicious omelettes before heading back to our hostel room for a nap.

Afterward, we went to Agra Fort, also known as Red Fort.

Agra Fort was the main residents of the Mughal dynasty for quite some time.

It’s yet another massive labyrinth of courtyards, gardens, gateways, halls and mosques.

My favorite part of the fort, by and far, was the Musamman Burj.

During his reign, Shah Jahan renovated parts of the fort, which was originally constructed in the mid-1500s.

One of Shah Jahan’s additions was the Musamman Burj, which was built for (surprise) Mumtaz Mahal.

It was built so that Mumtaz Mahal could gaze out of the royal residence without being seen.

Shah Jahan spent the last several years of his life imprisoned in the fort by his son, and he allegedly spent most of that time staring out at the Taj Mahal, waiting to join his favorite wife after his death.

After we left Agra Fort, we wandered around for a bit until we found a spot for a late lunch/early dinner.

Ryan and I went to Masala Darbar for more thali, and… illegal beers?

In what was perhaps the funniest moment of our trip, our server asked Ryan if he wanted “maybe a beer?”

Ryan nodded and said sure, why not. Our server explained that the beer was “cash-only. Now,” and Ryan handed over 600 rupees.

Our server came over with two tinfoil-wrapped beers. Ryan laughed and asked if he could see what they were, but before he could peel back the tinfoil, the server stood behind Ryan’s shoulder, said, “no. CCTV,” and then wagged his finger at the two of us.

Ryan laughed and cracked open his beer while we devoured our platter of thali.

That was kind of about it for our trip. We walked around some vendor stalls for a bit and then made it back to our hostel in time for bed.

We woke up the next morning, walked to a nearby restaurant for breakfast, and the hopped in a cab to Delhi.

After our four-hour taxi ride to Delhi, we made it to our next (and last!) hotel.

We had a 3 a.m. flight out of Indira Gandhi International Airport, so Ryan and I booked a night at an airport-adjacent hotel, knowing full well we’d be checking out of our hotel room at about 11 p.m.

We dropped our stuff off and wandered to a nearby restaurant to grab biryani for lunch.

Then, we went back to our hotel to repack and consolidate our belongings, take a nap, shower, and prepare for the l o n g excursion back home.

We had about 12 hours in Delhi, and while we had discussed maybe trying to hoof it over to some of Delhi’s monuments and attractions now that the air pollution wasn’t quite as bad as it was two weeks ago, we were honestly really tired and ready to get back home at that point.

Plus, we knew we had a long 36 hours of travel ahead.

After our naps, showers and packing, the two of us checked out of our hotel and took a cab to the airport.

Now, here’s a quick little detour.

If you know Ryan — or if you’ve heard any of my stories about him at any point during the past four years — you know just how dang stubborn this man can be.

When I booked my round-trip flights between Flagstaff and Delhi, I sent Ryan a copy of my itinerary and told him to book the same return flight as me.

Ryan, being Ryan, insisted that if he waited until the last minute, he could find a better fare.

Well… that didn’t happen.

What did happen, instead, was Ryan ended up booking a longer and more complicated route home.

My itinerary was long, but pretty simple: Delhi to London with a two-hour layover, and then London to Dallas/Fort Worth with a three-hour layover, and then Dallas/Fort Worth home to Flagstaff.

Ryan, on the other hand, flew from Delhi to Munich with a 55-minute layover, Munich to London with a 90-minute layover… and then had the same itinerary as me.

His flight from Delhi to Munich left an hour earlier than my flight from Delhi to London, but it was already delayed by 20 minutes.

And — all of his flights were booked separately, so there was no recourse with an airline if he missed any of his connections.

Luckily, Ryan barely squeaked by. He made it to his gate in Munich just before the last boarding announcement, and made it to our gate in London just after the last group was called to board.

The rest of our flights were pretty uneventful. I watched a few episodes of “A Gentleman in Moscow” on my seat back entertainment set, took a few naps, and then the two of us made it to Dallas and grabbed food at an airport bar called “Tacos & Tequila.”

It’s kinda crazy how I can gaslight myself into thinking I could travel the world indefinitely until I end up watching football at an airport bar called “Tacos & Tequila,” and then I realize that I am as American as it gets.

Our flight from Dallas to Flagstaff was delayed by about an hour. Ryan and I were completely exhausted at that point and just ready to be home.

Luckily, we did land back in Flagstaff without incident, although it was freezing!

Ryan’s parents were at the airport with Ochi to greet us!

Ochi was only a little upset that we left him for so long.

Ryan and I made it home and I was greeted by a wonderful surprise.

By amazing friends, who had been stopping by to water our plants and shuttle packages inside our front door, had left me a kind and generous surprise.

And, that was it!

It was a little jarring to leave the mild climate of a majority Hindu country, land at London Heathrow, and realize, oh hey, it’s Christmas.

It was also a little jarring to arrive back home still in Birkenstock slides after leaving a 78-degree Delhi.

Ryan was up early on our first full day back (thanks, jetlag) so he could get all our Christmas lights put up.

We missed Thanksgiving and our annual Christmas tree cutting weekend this year, so now we’re playing catch-up.

While I had the best time in India, I’m so glad to be home. I missed Ochi, and my friends, and my yoga studio, and my own bed and shower.

Seven weeks went by so quickly! I am so, so grateful for the incredible experiences I had in India: From my first few days in Rishikesh, to a full month at my Himalayan ashram, to sandy Goan beaches, to colonial French architecture in Pondicherry, to the pink-hued walls of Jaipur and finally, to Agra.

Now that I’m home, my heart longs for the routine of my ashram, the bustle of the Jaipur markets, the breeze of Anjuna beach and the kindness of the Indian citizens Ryan and I were so lucky to interact with.

Until next time, India.