Well, I put it off as long as possible and only went under duress. But I finally went to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. And, well, I have to admit it is pretty impressive. I always expect to be disappointed by mega-tourist sites and almost always am. But I can add the Taj Mahal to the Giza Pyramids on the list of the FEW major tourist sites that have not been disappointing. We foolishly did not book a train ahead of time and so were forced to hire a car. You would think the road from the capital of India to one of the most visited tourist sites in the world would be in good shape but you would be very very very wrong in this assumption. It sucks.

But let's focus on the positive. It's a beautiful building. Now, I can tell you that India has many things that are far more impressive and more beautiful, Sree Meenakshi temple in Madurai, the Jain temples in Palitana in Gujarat, the entire city of Varanasi, to name a few. So I think this building's renown is unfair, but at least it keeps visitors away from some of India's other great treasures.