pricing change for Taj

edwardseco

I concur..

steven_ber

I hadn't seen the Taj in my first 5 trips, even though I'd been to Agra.

I visited the Taj Mahal last month and I have to say, the food at the Taj restaurant was very good.

The Taj Mahal was OK, nice really, and a great story, but very overated in my opinion.

I was spoilt by seeing the Golden Temple in the same trip, and I think it would be very difficult for anywhere to impress after a person sees the Golden Temple.

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anubisgrau

i haven't been at taj but i've been at golden temple 9 years ago and i can't agree more. i spent a day there in a state of deep emotional shock.

a question: are women allowed at golden temple? i remember i was in amritsar with a girlfriend but she didn't go there. now i want to bring my wife but it would be silly to go there to find that women are not allowed.

the opoponax

Yes, women are allowed.

At least, if they're not, I'll be VERY pissed off at every guidebook I've read in the past 2 years of researching this trip, as none of them mention anything about women not being allowed. And neither did my Sikh roommate who recommended that I check it out in the first place, now that I think about it...

shashank.aggarwal

Yes, women are allowed in the Golden Temple !!

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biswassb

We just came back from Agra trip. It was one of the most memorable trip of my life. Regarding the fees, we paid Rs. 750 for myself and my wife and my teenager was free. I gladly paid the fee and it was worth every paisa. Actually, we paid twice: once in the morning and another for moon light visit. I urge every foreigner and every NRI to pay the higher fees for a number of reasons. First, we do not get paid in Indian rupees and Rs. 750 or $20 is a very reasonable fee for international sites comparable or even lesser than Taj for example, Louvre, Versailles, Grand canyon etc. Then, why not Taj? Second, this appears to be the only source of revenue unlike other sites like Louvre with exorbitant cafeterias and gift shops. Third, the cost of security of Taj is probably on the same scale as Taj itself. In our night visit, the number of military personnel were more than the tourists.

In summary, Rs 750 is undoutedly a great deal for all of us.

biswassb

Tajmahal: words can't describe it. You have to see this massive work of art with your own eyes to appreciate and feel it. There is nothing man-made that I have seen could be compared. My wife thought Grand canyon is the closest comparison. To give an idea, it is ~200 ft x 200 ft X 150 ft monument made with carved or inlaid white marble only. And made with exquisite symmetry and engineering perfection without machine tools. It is so massive and beautiful that it can humble anyone even without the stones that British removed from Tajmahal.

We went to the main entrance slightly before 6 AM. It was absolutely dark with only a few visitors. Once inside Taj, we waited inside the main gate overlooking Tajmahal, saw sunrise and slow illumination of Taj. It was simply a memorable experience even though the day was somewhat cloudy. We took our time to see Tajmahal, the real mosque on the left side and its symmetric copy on the right, the gardens with wild parrots, as well as the display by the tourism department about other Indian antiquities. We also visited the small Taj museum. After 5 1/2 hours inside, we left around 11:30AM. We had three cameras and two of them developed problems. However, we got some great pictures of Taj sunrise with a little 5 MP Fuji digital camera.

mridula

Biswas, would you post the sunrise pictures online? If yes, please share the link

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mridula

http://www.gonomad.com/traveltalesfromindia/

biswassb

Mridula,

Here you go. The indicated picture times are not exact.

Biswas

Attached Thumbnails

 

brownboy66

We just got back to Delhi 30 minutes ago from Agra, and saw the Taj, the Agra Fort, and Fatepur Sikri - and for the first two all I can say is......wow! That first sight of the Taj as you come through the gate (especially and sunrise) just takes your breath away - photos do not do it justice. As for the fort - its huge, and looking across the river to the Taj is eerie !

I'll do a more detailed write up later, but my recommendation if you couldn't do all three would be to do the Taj and the fort. Fatepur Sikri was spoiled for us by the mob of touts both inside and out - it was simply impossible to sit quietly and contemplate the wonder of it all without someone constantly in your ear (possibly this has something to do with the fact the Fatepur does not fall under central govt control or management)? A pity as it is massive.

And re the entry price for the Taj - still 750 as of 7am this morning.

mridula

Thanks Biswas for sharing the pictures. And good to hear your account too Brownboy66.

DrDatura

An explanation, via a Korean news site:

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/ht...801070001.html

"The rise of the Indian currency's value against the dollar in the past year is affecting many businesses in India. From New Delhi, Anjana Pasricha reports on how some industries are coping.

"For years, the U.S. dollar was seen as a mighty currency that any Indian would happily accept and store away, confident that it would gain steadily against the local rupee. The dollar was the benchmark used to draw up business contracts or negotiate salaries with foreign firms.

"But a whopping 13 percent surge of the Indian currency versus the dollar in the past year has changed that. From tourism to information technology, industries are coping with the plunging dollar in different ways.

"For example, the country's heritage tourist sites have decided to say "no" to dollar payments, and accept only rupees for admission.

"India's tourism minister says this is being done partly because it is more practical, but says it also saves money because the dollar is weak.

"This means that tourists visiting the famed Taj Mahal monument now fork out the rupee equivalent of nearly $20, rather than the $15 they paid previously."

biswassb

First, these are all primarily academic mumbo jumbo of pandits. For, american tourists and NRIs, $15 or $20 admission fees do not make any difference. One should remember that one cup of Starbucks coffee costs close to $5.

Second, US economic condition is extremely strong. At least, in the last twenty years, I have not seen better economic condition in US. For example, unemployment is so low that we are having problem filling open positions; inflation is not in sight which leads to speculation about recession; except for petrol or gasoline, overall prices of everything remained very steady and quite low.

Third, dollar's value also depend on the intentions of US Govt. Because of the trade deficit with particularly China and others, it is probably advantageous to let dollar slide. At the least, I have not seen any effort by the Bush administration to stop the slide. As a result, Dollar is falling against all currencies not just Indian rupees.

I think India Govt.'s plan to accept only Rupees is a good idea. I always use SBI ATM to get my cash. I like it because I do not have to carry any dollar bills or TCs. Last Dec '07 in Agra, Delhi and Kolkata, I was getting Rs. 20,000 for $508.4 which is excellent. Finally, I believe India Govt. should increase the fees for foreigners for these historical places. I was very pleased with the upkeep of these places in Agra as well as security.

Nick-H

Oh right... so the world works according to what the Americans can afford. Fine.

As to the US being extremely strong --- I expect that explains the plummeting value of its currency. Right. Fine.

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