It’s difficult to describe just how magnificent the Taj Mahal is and a lot of people think this photo is fake. Just like the Bundi and Pushkar road weekend trip, a group of us from camp went on another weekend trip to Agra to see the Taj Mahal.

Instead of a bus, we took a train to Agra. India has an extensive railway system that covers the entire country. Indian Railways in the 2nd largest employer in the world. It can be rather chaotic at times but booking tickets is easy online with the cleartrip website. There are about 6 classes of ticket for the trains ranging from private cabins with bunk beds to open seating just slightly above a cattle car.

These trains aren’t fast like Japanese and Korean trains, but they avoid the incredibly hectic traffic that can plague India’s roads and highways – usually taking you right into the city center as opposed to buses, which drop you off on the outskirts. Trains are very economical too. A middle class ticket for a 5 or 6 hour train ride might only cost a few dollars.

We checked into Hotel Sheela, which is as close as you can get to the Taj but not a nice place at all. The price was right (about 500 rupees) and the next morning, I got an early start to see the Taj.

The Taj is actually a tomb built in the mid 1600’s by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. I was pleasantly surprised to learn there was an audio tour available and spent the morning strolling around the grounds while taking breaks to listen to the historical info on the guide.

Audio guides are really nice because they allow you to bypass the hustle of human guides who hang outside of every attraction. In the afternoon, I took a tuk-tuk around to check out some more sites. Agra also has a massive fort as it was the capital of Mughal India for about 150 years.

I also checked out another tomb often called the ‘baby Taj’

I also found out from the local newspaper that Tom Cruise was in Agra to check out the Taj Mahal the day before I was there. He has been in India filming for the Mission Impossible movie.

The streets of Agra are pretty congested. Agra is in the state of Uttar Pradesh, which has 180 million people in a state the size of Iowa. We made our way back to Jaipur for another week of classes and volunteering.