Wow baby Taj Mahal

Trip Start Jan 22, 2008
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Trip End Aug 22, 2008


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Where I stayed
hotel shree maya
(Aurangabad hotels)

Flag of India  , Maharashtra,
Thursday, May 22, 2008

The train was supposed to arrive at 4am ; so we woke at 3am to make sure we did not miss our stop - since the only way you knew where you were was by looking out of the window at the station. The train was late and therefore did not get into the station until 5.30am.

We were very tired, but spent the next hour looking at hotel rooms trying to find one that was reasonable - the sugar injection from the chai kept us going!! After looking at about 5 hotels we found the hotel Shree Maya which was head and shoulders above the rest (450rp/6 pounds) since it had lovely big rooms, mosquito nets on the windows ( i had seen loads in the train station) and a nice open downstairs sitting area/restaurant.

After a long sleep we got a tuk tuk to go to see the sights of Aurangabad.. baby taj
baby taj
 or a couple of them. The Panchakki was a waterwheel that was a marvel at its tiome, but in the hot season there isn't really much but a little water free falling 10ft  into a pond.

We then went to the amazing Bibi -qa-Maqbara.... The guide book called it the poor mans Taj... so I was not expecting much..now taking into consideration we have both seen the Taj Mahal in person.. we both thought that from a distance it looked exactly the same - OK when you got closer you realised it did not have the inlaid gems and was not made of marble, but the shape was similar and it was a large structure - perhaps 35ft high? We were impressed....It was definately worth a visit and I would rate it to anyone.
It was difficult to look around the gardens and take our own photos, however, due to the fact that many of the people there were Indian tourists (we only saw 2 white tourists) and therefore many kept asking for their pictures to be taken with us... it just got a little annoying when a group of young boys all wanted their photos taken seperately with me - to maybe pretend they have a white girlfriend perhaps?? All I know was it became a little daunting.....
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