Business trip to India-Taj Mahal

After thinking about it, I think it would be better to write about Taj Mahal as a separate article. Because it will be relatively long, most of it will be my complaints. [Cool]

Our flight is on Sunday, so after completing the task on Friday, we can do whatever we want on Saturday. Brother Li and I both like history and various museums and attractions, so when it came to going to the Taj Mahal, we hit it off immediately. The other two planned to go shopping and were not interested in the Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal is in Agra, India, about 200 kilometers away from New Delhi. We consulted the hotel in advance, and the hotel told us that we could charter a car, take a train or find a tour group. We found a Chinese who runs a hotel in India introduced by a friend. Their hotel has a car that can be rented to us with a driver. The driver can communicate in simple English. The cost of renting for a day is RMB 1,400. After considering safety and convenience, I decided on this.

At 7:30 the next day, the driver was waiting at the door of our hotel on time. As soon as we went out, we saw a brand new 7-seater business car, which was very spacious. The driver sits in the front, and Brother Li and I can put down the seats and lie flat in the back. Money well spent.

The driver drove very fast. Brother Li said that he was a little nervous as a 20-year-old driver. Once we got on the highway, there were very few cars, so we didn’t have to worry so much. The scenery along the way is good, with endless green, and suddenly it feels like driving on the African savanna. After driving for about 3 hours, the car drove into what looked like a small town, then passed through villages and farmland. You can tell from the road signs that we are almost there.

There is still some distance from the parking lot of the Taj Mahal to the gate of the Taj Mahal Scenic Area, and you need to take the scenic bus. There is a fee for parking toilets, but buses are free. The bus is very old and very crowded. Fortunately, it only took a few minutes to arrive.

The Taj Mahal ticket costs 1,000 rupees for foreigners (the price was a few years ago, I don’t know if it has increased now). I can’t remember how much it costs for Indians. In short, it is much cheaper than foreigners. It is said that many years ago, the same was true for domestic attractions, such as the Forbidden City. Ticket prices for foreign tourists were more expensive than for Chinese people. However, in recent years, China's economy has developed and it no longer cares about foreign exchange gains, so the ticket prices are not as high as those between Chinese and foreign tourists. Divided.

While buying tickets, there was always a person coming to talk to us and guide us. After buying the ticket, we were told that he was a staff member and could take us in without queuing, but we needed to give him a tip of 1,000 rupees to let him in. We refused.

There were many people queuing up, and there were two long lines for men and women. Brother Li and I walked to the end of our respective queues and lined up calmly. After standing for a while, a staff member said to me, you can go directly to the front without waiting in line, and there is no need to ask for money. I was a little suspicious and called Brother Li over. Just as I was about to ask again, another person who claimed to be a staff member came over and said he could take us for 1,500 rupees [shocked]. Yes, it was 500 more expensive than the first person. rupee. So we both thought that the second person also wanted us to pay, so we didn't ask again. Return to your respective teams and continue queuing. The queue for men was already shorter and they went through the security check faster, so gradually, the distance between Brother Li and me widened. During this period, I saw a few Chinese people. The girl saw that the ladies’ queue was too long, so she queued in the men’s queue regardless. Her male companion reminded her that she had to go to the ladies’ queue, and the girl said, “I’m just here.” If you don’t go, stay here.” Therefore, there are still too many Chinese people who do not follow the rules. Maybe I don’t know how to adapt and am stubborn? In short, I don’t want people to find any excuse to slander the Chinese people in foreign countries.

The ladies’ team moved forward at a snail’s pace. The weather was so hot that people felt dizzy from the sun. During this period, there were people who jumped in line, and there were quarrels among those who jumped in line. The quarrels were all in Indian, which I couldn’t understand, and I was not in the mood to watch the excitement. It was really noisy. The scenic area is under maintenance, so there is a pile of stones next to our team, which has been stepped on all over the ground, making it difficult to walk. And there was even a pool of cow dung. No wonder the further you walked in line, the more smelly you felt, and there were flies. Later, I saw a few Europeans being led by what looked like staff, and went directly into the security check without queuing. I sighed, money is better, and if it costs 500 rupees, I can still accept this kind of service. While I was sighing, there was an Indian girl behind me who told me in broken English that I didn’t need to queue and could go in directly. Then other people around me also agreed. When I asked why, they chattered and couldn't speak English well. I hesitated for a moment, but I was really impatient to wait, so I thought about asking at the door. If it didn’t work, I would come back. Everyone around me knew me anyway, so it wouldn’t count as jumping the queue if I got to my original position. When I arrived at the security checkpoint, the policeman looked at me, glanced at the ticket, and let me in. After passing the security check, the bag had to be opened for inspection. The chewing gum and chocolates given by customers were not allowed in the bag, so I had to throw them there [crying]. Brother Li came in half an hour ago. He sent me a text message saying that he had high value tickets and could use the express lane. Unfortunately I didn't see this message.

Later, we both thought that the second staff member was telling the truth. He should be a regular staff member. He didn't say anything about money or that he would take us there. Unfortunately, due to the confusion between the first and the third person, neither of us believed it.

Foreigners who buy tickets at a high price can enjoy priority entry. It's a pity that it was not clearly stated, and various people were involved in it, with no one to manage it. This experience at the Taj Mahal was very bad. It’s also my fault that we didn’t check the strategy in advance. Friends who go there can take this as a lesson.

The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his beloved concubine. When I learned that the princess had given birth to 14 children, I was shocked. This woman spent her whole life either pregnant or in confinement, and then died in the delivery bed.

The main building of the Taj Mahal is located on a high marble base. To get on the base, you need to take off your shoes or wear shoe covers. The steps leading to the mausoleum are steep and narrow. When we came to the entrance of the mausoleum, we saw from a distance that there was only a very narrow door to enter, which could only allow two or three people to enter and exit side by side at the same time. There was still some distance from where we were standing to the door, and there was a long line of people. There is no staff to maintain order. Everyone moved forward in a crowded manner. Brother Li and I were pushed forward by the people behind us. Behind me was a middle-aged Indian woman. They were very close to each other due to the crowd. I can understand this, but what I couldn't accept was that she put her hands on my back. The dress I was wearing that day had a slightly lower neckline at the back. Those hands were in direct contact with my skin, making it sticky and hot. I kept trying to shake her hand off, but to no avail. [Crying]

As I approached the door, the queue became even more crowded, and I was even a little scared (you can imagine the morning rush hour subway in Beijing or Guangzhou). It is very easy to get stampeded in this situation, but It was impossible to squeeze out of the queue. At this time, I heard a voice asking everyone to slow down. It was a European and American white man in front of me shouting. It seemed that he was also squeezed to the point of collapse and kept shouting "dangerous". It seems to work for a little bit. But I also clearly heard someone from the right rear making a mocking sound and saying "welcome to India". [Black line]

Brother Li and I were finally squeezed in, but there didn’t seem to be anything special inside, at least I didn’t have any impression at all, (maybe we haven’t recovered from the crowding just now) god). Oh, I remember there were a lot of signs around saying no photography and no making noise, but there were still many people taking photos with flashes on, and some deliberately shouting and whistling loudly. Almost all are Indians. Brother Li whispered, "The quality is too poor." It's not big inside, so I walked around a small circle and came out through a door at the back.

We walked around outside again, took a few photos and planned to go back. There is not much time to actually visit. Most of the time, you are either queuing or crowded. As the saying goes, "queue for two hours and visit for 10 minutes." I didn’t ask Brother Li how he felt. At least for me, visiting it once was enough. After all, it is one of the internationally renowned attractions. The exterior scenery is indeed beautiful, but I have no idea of ??coming again. This may be a true portrayal of "I regret not coming, but I will regret even more if I come".

After we left the gate, we didn’t take the bus to the scenic area. It wasn’t very far anyway, so we planned to walk back to the parking lot and take a look at the surrounding stores. Some vendors kept selling us when they saw us, and some even directly said "Hello" in Chinese [black line]. It's a pity that there is a whole row of shops with nothing of interest. Many of them are models of the Taj Mahal, but no matter how beautiful it is, it is still a mausoleum, and you can’t put a mausoleum at home.

The return trip felt faster than when we went there. Brother Li and I were a little tired. Brother Li slept the whole way, but I couldn't sleep and played with my mobile phone the whole way. I thought it would take a day to go back and forth, but it was only around 3 o'clock when we got back to the hotel.

Taj Mahal is over~~

Please pay attention to other attractions.

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Thank you for reading~