Agra

Everyone says that it's a must to go to the Taj Mahal while you're in India. I was skeptical. I have found that usually if you build up your expectations too much, they disappoint. That is not the case with the Taj Mahal.

A few cool facts: It took 22 years to build. 25 elephants could fit between the lower and upper domes. You can only see the lower dome from the inside where the crypt is, which is difficult to see from the floor in the first place. The four pillars on the outside of the main building lean slightly outwards so they would collapse away from the building in an earthquake, rather than smashing it. And the list continues.

There is no way to express how large the actual monument is or how ornate the detail work is. I couldn't believe how much thought was put into making everything exactly symmetrical except for the king's coffin. I've put a couple of photos above to see how beautiful even an amateur's photography is, but seriously, go there. You can't appreciate it without seeing it in person.

The rest of Agra, the town itself, is a giant tourist town. My favorite example was when we went to grab dinner. My friend asked for really spicy food, which she hadn't been able to find all day. When the food came, it was basically bland, something I've never experienced in India. Our tour guide told us later that tourists would ask for spicy food, get sick because they weren't used to it, and then not be able to make their tours. As a result, the tour guides asked the restaurants to stop serving spicy food so they wouldn't lose revenue.