Sunday, December 7, 2014
We got up at 5:30 this morning so we could see the Taj Mahal at dawn. This is such a popular thing to do that the ticket office and gates open in accordance with the sunrise time. We arrived early, but there was still a line of more than 100 people waiting in front of us.
We hired a guide who smoothed over the process of getting tickets, a free bottle of water and disposable shoe covers. The guides come up to you as soon as you arrive and you can negotiate the price. He asked for Rs 250, I offered Rs 200, and he accepted. I think it’s usually well-worth the extra expense to hire a guide, because they always know the best places to take a photo and can point out unusual features of the place that you would have walked right past.
(I’ll add more to this post later)