Travel Photography | Life is a Journey, Not Destination

© 2010 Wazari Wazir | Travel Photography | Taj Mahal Agra | Life is a Journey

Finally on June 15 we were standing in front of Taj Mahal, one of seven wonders of the world. I just could not believe my eyes that finally we are here after very long arduous journey. Back then in Malaysia my home country, Taj Mahal can be considered as far reaching out place, a dream destination for many of us, there were five of us in my group. All of us have never been here in Agra before.

We choose the long road to get here, a Golden Triangle Road, usually most people will just go direct to Taj Mahal from New Delhi, it will took around two to three hours by train to get to Agra where Taj Mahal is located. For us we took the long journey, we travel from New Delhi to Jodhpur, The Blue City and from Jodhpur we head straight to Jaipur, The Pink City and finally to Agra. Traveling by  train is not everyone cup of tea, especially in India, but  I think those who visit India and never travel by train is missing something here because train and India can’t be separated. It is the number one choice mode of transportation here in India.

You can see so much of India traveling with train especially if you choose a long distance journey like more than eight hours traveling time. There is a life inside and outside the train, you can get to know the people on the train if you willing to mix around with them rather than do your own things. It was so true that traveling is not about destination, it is the journey that matters the most. It doesn’t really matter whether we reach our dream destination or not but most importantly we enjoy the journey so much. India is not just all about Taj Mahal, India is about life, life of the richest and life of the people on the street.

Taj Mahal is big, it’s huge by any comparison and truly a symbol of love. Before coming here, I thought Taj Mahal is a mosque where people can pray inside there but it is not, there is a mosque actually on the left side of this picture where if you are a muslim, you can perform your prayer there. There is a tombs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal there inside the Taj Mahal just right under the huge dome.

Taj Mahal is considered to be the finest example of Mughal architecture style. I can say it is really beautiful especially if you visit it during early morning. It was open daily except on Friday from 6 A.M to 6 P.M. The entry fee is Rs750 per person and you can bring your camera there without any extra charge.

Cameras and videos are permitted, but you cannot take photographs of the tombs inside the mausoleum, and areas where you can take your video camera are limited. From the south gate, entry to the inner compound is through a 30m red sandstone gateway on the south side of the forecourt, which is inscribed with verses from the Quran.

We spent more than four hours inside the Taj Mahal compound, i wish I can stay a little bit longer but we were so thirsty because the weather is so damn hot. We did bring our mineral water but it’s just not enough and furthermore the lighting is not very good to get a beautiful photograph. If you plan to visit Taj Mahal, I highly recommended you to visit it early in the morning especially during its opening at 6 A.M and if you are lucky you will get a golden lighting against the white marble of Taj Mahal and most importantly not many tourist around at that time and you don’t have to queue to get a clean photograph of you with Taj Mahal like picture of me above. I have to queue patiently just to be able to sit on the chair. The are so many people if you come around 9 A.M and above.

About the editing of the photograph above, I just add a little bit of texture just to add a vintage or retro looking effect. You can learn about texture editing by clicking on the banner at the bottom of this article. Traveling is in my blood and I will continue my journey as long as I live, insyaAllah, Life is a Journey…