Sunrise at the Taj Mahal

We were up early to go for Easter sunrise at the Taj. Wake up call was at 4:30 and we left at 5:15. We got there very quickly with no traffic and got on our golf carts to the entrance. As we turned a corner, there was a cow walking in the street. Didn’t get a photo because we went by so quickly. Even though it was so early, there was a line to get in. Luckily our guide had prepurchased our tickets. We went through the same male and female separate security. I got another pat down.
‘it was just beginning to lighten up when we walked through the arch. Bunny decided to hang out near where we were the day before. So I was on my own to wander. I walked to the section where there is a raised platform with 2 benches on it. It was very crowded there because everyone wanted a photo sitting on Diana’s bench. I ran into my friends Beryl and Ben there so we got our pictures of each other. There is a walkway just in front of that platform. There were photographers there who were being paid to take photos of people. We kept asking them to stop so we could just take a picture. It took forever. Finally an American stopped for us. From there I walked over to a different section which faced east. The sun was just peeping over the buildings. I got a great shot of sun in the cupola of a building. I was there with 3 guys with long lenses on fancy cameras. I was using my iPhone. One guy said he wandered over to the side of the building and got a good shot through an archway. So I took myself there and he was right. It was a great picture. I just kept walking and taking pictures in awe of the place. It was so beautiful with the morning light warming up the marble dome. It wasn’t quite so crowded so it was easier to walk around. I went back to where Bunny was and just sat and gazed at that beautiful building.
‘it was time to leave so I snapped one last picture. Then we got back on the golf carts to go back to the bus. We went back to the hotel for breakfast. There was another tour to a fort. I passed it up because I was pretty wiped out from the day before. Our guide had arranged for Bunny to have a wheelchair for the tour. She said she had to overcome her pride but it was a great way to see things. She was also a hero because the bus was able to get closer to pick everyone up.
‘They came back for lunch at 1:30. Then we left to drive back to Delhi.-a 4 hour drive. We got back, checked in and went to the room.. In hotels here you have to put a room key in a slot to have the lights work. We had a devil of a time trying to figure out how to turn them off. We finally found a control console on the nightstand between the beds. We still don’t have it quite figured out.
‘I’m a day behind. It’s Monday, April 1. We had tour today too. I will tell you about the in the next post. We’ll be flying to Mauritius tomorrow to board the ship, so there may not be a post.
‘Photos: sunrise, arch photo, close up of the building, Taj through the trees, sunlight warming the dome, a long shot, one of the buildings around the Taj, and my favorite shot of the day. I forgot the photo of me on the bench. Will include next time.