Day 4 - Taj Mahal

Baby Taj

This morning I visited the Taj Mahal at sunrise. Although the sun just peeked over the horizon, it was still blistering hot. The Taj Mahal took 22 years to build, and I can tell why; all of the white marble decorations are so intricate. Some of the marble is inlayed with stones to make designs and some of the marble is carved out. All of the carving was done by hand, and the artists couldn't use a hammer because it would be too much vibration for the marble to withstand. After visiting the Taj Mahal, I visited the Baby Taj. It was much smaller than the real deal, but more detailed. It was actually built first.

After visiting the Taj Mahal, I made my way to Jaipur, a 145 mile journey.

I had my first chance to go shopping at a few different stores, and I realized how much like haggling down prices. One store did their bargaining in American dollars to make it easier for its customers.

Me: "No, $25 is too expensive" 

Salesman: "So what would you pay?" 

Me: "$10" 

Salesman: "No, no profit" 

"That's fine" I said as I walked away. Ten minutes later he came up to me and asked for my highest price, and I told him $10. He sighed and said okay. I pulled out my wallet to pay him, and he tried to tell me the current value of a rupee was 57 to $1. Bryan looked it up on his phone and it was 54. The salesman argued a little bit. I got out the cash and told him to "take it or leave it." He took the money, and I was happy, unlike him. Bryan said I'm the best haggler of all the trips he's taken students on.

Upon arriving in Jaipur, I found out that my accommodation for the next two nights is a renovated palace. It's very nice!