Gladys gamely poses by the river bank despite being so drowsy from lack of sleep

The wife and I in front of the Taj Mahal

The best view of the Taj is from across the Yamuna River during sunrise when early morning mist softly diffuses the light

Viewed from the Taj's elevated platform, the gateway lines up perfectly with the garden's main axis

The view from the garden lawn where one could sit and relax while enjoying the uninterrupted view

The view that takes your breath away. With nothing behind but the sky, The Taj Mahal seems to be floating on the air.

The Jahangiri Mahal inside the Fort built by Akbar as a women's quarters

This is the main entrance to the Taj built in red sandstone with Arabic calligraphy on the white marble that frames the arch

Resting from the blistering heat of the noonday sun in one of the exterior niches. Note our feet wrapped with cloth to protect them from the hot marble floor. Being a sacred place, you have to remove your shoes once you enter the Taj Mahal

This is at the back with the river on the right. All the white marble around dazzles the eyes and makes you squint uncomfortably without your sunglasses

Standing in front of the mosque

The Taj Mahal as seen from one of the Fort's ramparts

Main entrance from the courtyard

The courtyard

Across the moat and into the Red Fort

The Fort was built by Mughal Emperor Akbar the Great when he was only 23 years old in red sandstone indigenous to the place

Across the Yamuna spans a steel railroad bridge

This was where Emperor Shah Jehan - builder of the Taj - was imprisoned by his own son Aurangzeb till he died. Legend has it that he longingly gazed out one of these windows at his Monument to Love where his wife, Mumtaz Mahal was buried

This courtyard used to be a pool where the emperor went fishing from the balcony on the right

The upper corridor surrounding the courtyrad

The Peacock Throne studded with precious stones used to sit here when the Emperor met his guests. That throne was carted off by the Persians and now sits in Iran

The Diwan-I-Am has pillars cleverly positioned so that visitors entering the courtyard have an uninterrupted view of the Peacock Throne inside

The rear of the Jahangiri Mahal facing the river on the left

One of the four minarets around the Taj measuring 41 meters high. They are slanted slightly outward so that in case of an earthquake, they would not fall on the tomb but away from it.