Royal Proposal

We decided to hire a taxi driver from last night to take us around Agra for the entire day. First up was Itimad-ud-Daulah's Tomb which was built in 1622 which the locals here in Agra call the "Baby Taj". The use and amount of marble in these monuments are amazing especially in the details of the precious stones used for the inlay work. Next we were taken to Mehtab Bagh which is a Mughal Style garden which is located directly across the Yamuna River from the Taj Mahal. It was at this site that Shah Jahan wanted to build a black Taj Mahal. The Shah Janhan was imprisoned by his son, Aurangzeb and he spent the last years of his life imprisoned at the Agra Fort, the reason being he could view the Taj Mahal for the remainder of his life and this fort was our next destination and it was built by Emperor Akbar between 1565 and 1573 and is an impressive display of the way royalty used to live. It is perhaps......No, it is the most magnificent structure I have ever had the privelege to lay my eyes upon. I have seen thousands of images and I have always imagined what it would be like to see it with my own eyes. Completed in 1653 after 22 years and 41 million Rupees later the Taj Mahal is a vision of perfection that was built by Shah Jahan as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal who died giving birth to their 14th child in 1631. Now, my intial reaction was of total disbelief at the amount of people that were here to see the Taj. Gone are the days where you can enjoy the beauty of the Taj without thousands of other people but as soon as you walk through the main gate, you are transfixed by the structure which is archetictually perfect. We hired a guide which worked out great as he took quite a few shots of both of us, although they were your standard touristy stand in front of the Taj shots but hey, you still need shots like that every now and then although it seemed a little cheesy to get into a lineup just to sit on the famous marble bench with the Taj in the background. So the guide did his thing and we toured around the site for about an hour and after dispatching the guide we took some time to ourselves just to take in the moment. It was just really cool, hanging out at the Taj Mahal. Now, I've made some big and important decisions in my life.......Pepsi or Coke, Crest or Colgate, Perm or No Perm, Eat it or throw it away, but today I made the BIGGEST AND EASIEST DECISION of my life so far.......Today, I asked my girl Belle to marry me as we were sitting on one of the ledges of the Taj Mahal. Wisely, she responded with a big fat YES...............but I have to admit the whole time leading up to the proposal was a little chaotic. First when we got to the Taj, there was this huge lineup just to get in so that was why we hired a guide to get us through quicker as we were pressed for time as it was (close to sunset). Then, when we got in, there was just so many people so then I started scoping out different locations thoughout the site. Then our guide wanted to take us to the area where they explained about the marble inlay but the sun was going to set soon so that was when I paid him off and got rid of him. So Belle initially picked out a spot on the ground but as soon as we sat down, all I could smell was.......FEET!!!!!!!!! (you couldn't wear shoes at the Taj)..........I couldn't possibley profess my eternal love to Belle with the odour of parmesean cheese hanging in the air! So I grabbed her hand and we sat and talked for a little while and as we were talking I grabbed the ring from my money belt.........OK, I thought......here we go.......THEN, these locals starting surrounding us.........I'm thinking whats going on.......and they started snapping photos of us with their family members.......then another group of school boys came up.....so we gladly posed and smiled and then finally, we had a private moment to ourselves. I remember telling Rob earlier this year that I was going to propose to Belle in India and I remember him telling me, "you should do it at the Taj" and I had alreay made my decision to do exactly that because what could be possibly better or more romantic than proposing in front of thousands of people with the hint of parmesean in the air. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by the size of the crowd at the Taj but I will have to admit, it took a little of the lustre away from the entire experience although I wouldn't change a thing that I did this day. I can easily understand why so many people from all over the world come to see the Taj. You can also easily see that the tourism is what keeps this city alive. Every rickshaw driver we hired tried taking us to one of the many local vendors in the city so that they can recieve a commission.