We awoke in Agra before dawn to visit the Taj Mahal, just a short distance from our hotel. Since the eighties car traffic has been limited around the Taj to minimize pollution. Travel by camel was an alternative option, but we opted to walk instead (and get a few extra steps in).

The Taj Mahal was absolutely breathtaking, even under the cloudy sky of the monsoon. Our local tour guide was very knowledgeable - he claimed he had visited every day for the last 23 years. (He lives right next door to the grounds, so that seemed plausible). One of the more interesting tidbits he shared was that the four outside minarets lean away from the domed center at an angle of 3 degrees. This was dual-purposed: 1) to prevent the minarets from falling inward onto the main building in the event of an earthquake; and 2) to make them appear to stand perfectly straight when viewed from great distances.

The benefit of visiting at the crack of dawn is that we were the first to enter the park when it opened at 5:22AM. This meant for some great (people-free) photo opportunities!