Harbin, a city of 10 million people and perhaps the biggest city you’ve never heard of, is cold…..real cold. Long johns and under armor are a must, along with down jackets, thick socks and boots, and fleece layers in between everything. If you go prepared, it’s quite manageable and we found there never to be a dull moment.

A group of 10 people, mostly friends or friends of friends, and I went up into the chilly northeastern metropolis preparing for the worst, hoping for the best, and the ‘hoping’ paid off. Even the downtown walking street was lined with ice and snow sculptures including a 20 foot tall snow PSY doing his unmistakable “Gangnam Style” pose. In fact, the first night we ventured off to the Harbin Marriott to see the overhyped Ice Bar where we got to listen and dance to Gangnam Style not once, not twice, but seven times………consecutively. It was pretty silly but fun considering we were pretty much the only ones there besides the Chinese bartender who was dressed in his Siberian army style winter attire. Imagine being in an igloo Gangnam Style dance party, and that pretty much sums up our night.

By the way, the dishes served in Harbin at the Chinese restaurants……MASSIVE!!!! And so good, I love the northeastern China flavor, especially 锅包肉. I think I ate it every day. Not to mention the Russian food, not so much big portions, but equally as delicious. Thank you Russia, for bringing your food across the border and into China.

After our first big lunch as a full group on Saturday, we headed off to the Tiger Park north of town. Over 700 Siberian tigers live here, and a host of other species such as lions, leopards, cheetahs, and even one of the world’s only ligers. This was my second trip to the Tiger Park, some of you may remember my ramblings from 2010 and the infamous ‘Tiger vs. Duck’ video. What makes this park so special? Lots of hungry tigers and no PETA organizations to stop you from dangling live chickens in front of their faces. The video explains it all: “Chicken on a Stick” or watch below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

After the tigers, we went back to the hostel (Harbin Russia Youth Hostel) and warmed up before heading to the Ice Festival on January 5th, the ‘official’ opening day. We were nervous there would be throngs of people, but it wasn’t too bad and we got to see a beautiful fireworks show in the backdrop of the dozens of lit up ice statues. There really are no words to describe this one of a kind ice city, so you just have to either look at my pics or go see for yourself!!!

The ice festival isn’t just ice castles though, there’s a snow sculpture park, winter swimming, ice hockey, tubing, Skiing, snowboarding, ice fishing, you name it, if it can be done in the winter, they do it in Harbin! Check out this list for all that goes on at the festival each year, and enjoy!

We hopped a night bus from Kashgar down to Hotan. Years ago I vowed never to take a night bus again, but it was actually a pretty smooth ride….until our bus arrived at 5am instead of the estimated 7am. Chase and I tried to negotiate with a dozen taxi drives who had ZERO English, and only marginally better Mandarin, and eventually found our way to the hotel we were staying at. To be honest, besides being on the edge of the world’s 2nd largest desert, there is nothing particularly attractive about the city of Hotan, but it turned out to be my favorite place on the trip.

Culturally, Hotan is 99% Uyghur, with a small Han Chinese population that occupies a small part of town. Actually if it wasn’t for that little “Chinatown” that wasn’t celebrating and fasting Ramadan, I’m not sure we’d have eaten anything the entire 3 days we were there! Even during the peak travel season of summer, there was not a foreigner to be found in the whole city. Even though I was continually mistaken for a Pakistani, eventually we were tracked down by a local guy who had great English. He offered, for a small price of course, to take us around the town for the day.

There are a few things that put Hotan on the map: 1. One of Asia’s largest markets known as the Hotan Sunday Bazaar 2. Hotan silk 3. Hotan carpets 4. Mulberry paper, and 5. Hotan jade hunting. Walking through the market was like walking through a never-ending junk yard next to a slaughterhouse alongside a Persian carpet store. You name it, they probably got it, and yes, it’s huge. The carpet factories were equally as impressive, each thread on 100 sq. ft. carpet hand sewn one at a time, taking months to make just one. But the most intriguing attraction of Hotan, in my opinion, is the jade. Akin to the California gold rush of the mid-1800s, many came to Hotan searching for an illusive type of Jade that is, by weight, many times more valuable than gold. Many different types of Jade are found in Hotan, but only one, ‘mutton-fat’ jade, draws the big companies west to search. Most of the ‘rush’ is over now, and many companies went belly up after putting everything they had into machinery and labor, and yielding nothing. The environmental impact was felt so much that the Chinese government actually stepped in and put an end to the madness. But despite the odds, we were still happy to try our chances at striking it rich. We got dropped off at the aptly named Jade River just outside of town and started sifting through the seemingly infinite pile of stones until we found a few that had that ‘mutton-fat’ appearance. After a few minutes of excitement, some locals informed us that what we’d found were just a bunch of regular river rocks, much to our dismay (we kept them anyway….just in case). It sounds dumb and boring, but it was great to just be out there and hang with the locals and hunt some jade with them. Though none of us actually found anything, we all got nice tans.

After that we were whisked off to the Taklamakan desert to visit a few ancient worship sites where locals would go to visit there ancestors and/or local heroes past. The desert was new for me, and it’s absolutely gorgeous at sunset. The locals would set up flags around the places where certain noblemen were buried, and over the years would continually add random articles of clothing to the makeshift flagpoles, which looked quite brilliant with the sandy backdrop. When I inquired as to why this tradition was practiced, our guide honestly had no idea…..”they just do” he said.

Our last day in Hotan could have been my favorite day of the trip. We ran into a super friendly Uyghur man named Rozie. He tried his best to speak English as it was clear he desperately wanted to communicate with us. I asked him if he spoke Chinese, which he happened to be fluent in having attended a Chinese Uni in Urumqi. He wanted to hang out with us for the day and so we hopped a cab and went out to get some more desert views. We ended up at the Yengi Erik Reservoir which is nothing special to the eye, but its where many locals go to relax after Ramadan. We took a nice swim, jumped in the dam area with the local kids, and met some old half drunk Uyghur guys who invited us back to there home for lunch.  It was truly amazing, they invited us right in and sang songs, danced and stuffed our faces full of food. And the to top it all off, they gave us each a piece of REAL jade! We tried to decline but they wouldn’t have any of it. We later found out the jade we had received is quite valuable, and we probably insulted these lovely men trying to be humble. All in all, it was an awesome way to cap off an awesome trip.

The best site I have found by far for Hotan info is this:

http://www.centralasiatraveler.com/

Happy jade hunting!

Upon arrival, we definitely knew we weren’t in Kansas anymore. Kashgar has a strong middle eastern feel to it due to its geography of course, and because a majority of its inhabitants are Uyghur Muslim.  On one side of the city there was tons of beautiful middle eastern architecture, and then you could literally walk to the other side, across a magical road where you were instantly teleported to any other plane Jane Chinese concrete city. The divide was THAT noticeable, and with that, the segregation of the people. The Chinese stick with the Chinese, and Uyghurs stick with the Uyghurs.

Kashgar was surprisingly clean and nice, though. We happened to be visiting during Ramadan, which we initially thought would be interesting, and it was, but it worked against as us Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset during this 40 day holiday. What does this mean? All the restaurants were closed!!! We had a real hard time finding local food, and often had to settle for burgers and Chinese food instead……frown. However, after the fast ended at 10pm each night, it was watermelon and mutton heaven!!! (watermelon is traditionally used to break the fast).

We stayed a great (and cheap!) little hostel (Pamir Hostel Kashgar) right in the downtown Uyghur section. Through a friend of a friend of a friend, we were able to get a local guy to come show us around town, and see the real Uyghur culture. He took us to the old quarter which looked like it was off a movie set; dusty run down streets, half finished mud brick buildings, and little kids with freshly shaven heads (because of Ramadan) frolicking through the alleys. Our guide, who shall remain nameless for safety reasons, was very cautious with us as he told us about the last foreigner he showed around turned out to be a journalist, and he was subsequently arrested and questioned for several days.

These things are not clear to the average visitor, but a daily reality to the locals. History has certainly shown that tensions exist in this extremely sensitive area. After several attacks from locals on Chinese police officers over the past several years, China has taken action. After ’08, all the foreigners living there at the time were kicked out. The government also has a plan to move almost half the city’s population (95% Uyghur) out of their traditional old town homes, and into modern high rises that are more “fire and earthquake compliant.”

Politics aside, there are many great little day trips to take from Kashgar. We only had one day outside the city and decided to head out the little known Shipton’s Arch. It’s the worlds tallest (1200 feet) known natural stone arch, and since I love superlatives, I can finally check that one off the list. I can’t say enough about this place, it was amazing! It takes a lot to wow me, and wow me it did. The history is quite interesting, only rediscovered 10 years ago, but this place is on the verge of becoming a coach bus, red had, and yellow flag toting tourist magnet…..but not yet. If you have a chance within the next year, GO!!! The roads, though rough now, are being built there to accommodate the masses as we speak, but if you go now you will beat the crowds. Oh, and 2 sketchy Uyghur guys will make you pay 30RMB to go up the stairs/ladders they built, just pay it and don’t argue, they maintain the area currently. Check out pics below of the view!

(special thanks to Chase for letting me ‘steal’ some of his pics)

I finally had my first real glimpse of a predominantly Muslim culture, and into the lives of yet another culture quite different from my own. This area has a history of tension, and as many Han Chinese move into the area, the effects of unrest are still noticeable. Urumqi is segregated quite conspicuously. Walking through the Uygur area of the city, there are Han soldiers armed to the gills with blockades ready to go in the event of an emergency. These guys were riot ready, sporting AK-47′s, a rare site in China.

Although we didn’t witness any drastic tensions first hand, and the region has been without major incident for a few years now, one can easily see the underlying reasons. Uyghurs would probably say they are indigenous to their mother Xinjiang, while Han Chinese would make a similar claim. Who is right? Well, probably both of them, as both ethnicities have a long history of inhabiting the region. But China, in an effort to move people from the jam-packed cities of the east coast to the wide open plains of the wild wild west, have offered incentives for those willing to make the leap. Han settlers often get free transportation, insurance, housing and help finding jobs or starting businesses. Now if I was a Han person struggling to make it or provide for my family, this option looks pretty good, so why wouldn’t I take it? Besides, Xinjiang is a beautiful place to live!

I understand the other side of the argument though. We talked with one young Uygur man on the train from Urumqi to Kashgar about this issue. He was very afraid of losing his heritage and his culture, and predicted in 50 years people there won’t even be speaking the local Uygur language (which is most similar to Turkish). How could this happen? Well basically, according to him, all of the smartest and brightest Uygur men and women are given excellent (and FREE) opportunities to study at good Chinese universities. However, he said because they fall under the Chinese educational system, that all of the knowledge they are learning is 100% in Mandarin. He told us he doesn’t know how to speak any of the technical words and concepts he is learning in his own native Uygur language. And apparently today, Uygur children attending school must speak in Mandarin, even the Uygur teachers must teach in Mandarin. I can understand the concern, but being bilingual definitely has huge advantages, not to mention a free college education that may not have been otherwise afforded.

So the debate goes on, but I think even though the Uygur people have received a lot of benefits from the Chinese government, such as modernization, education, and business subsidization, they may have some cause for concern over losing their culture. But I certainly don’t blame the world’s most populous country for trying to make their cities a bit less crowded, give the common man some opportunities for a livelihood, and use the vast expanse of land that has been endowed to them.

Bottom line, a couple of days in Urumqi is good, but that’s about all you’ll need if you want to visit. Heavenly lake (see pics below) was quite heavenly, so check it out. But although the lake seems small, it isn’t. There is a trail built around the whole thing for hikers, and my guesstimated 3 hour hike quickly (or slowly?) turned into an 8 hour hike. I should have known when there are no other people around, it was a bad idea. This is a handy rule I use sometimes in socialist countries with populations over a billion: If no one else is doing it, then you probably shouldn’t either.

For the budget travelers, MaiTian Youth Hostel is about as good as it gets as hostels go. It’s a cool mix of mostly Chinese travelers, with a few foreigners in between (yes, backpacking is becoming more popular with Chinese youth).

Next stop: Kashgar （喀什）

The local church I attend was leading a group of youths out into the Xinjiang wilderness and needed a chapperone, and I volunteered faster than a neutrino flying around a hadron collider. The trip was through a company called Journey Wilderness Adventures and anyone looking to explore the wilderness of northern Xinjiang should contact Chris and check it out. I was really excited about this trip because of the spiritual aspect as well, as JWA caters to people looking to get out of their city lives and connect with God in nature. This trip also includes one day of fasting and solitude, which was quite challenging, but infinitely rewarding. They accommodate groups up to 12 and can cater to your age group, timeline (summertime), and physical abilities, although all of the trips require at least some level of physical fitness. All of the trips meet in Urumqi 1 day before, and head back to Urumqi leaving 1 day to reflect and share about your time with the group.

Not surprisingly, the most fantastic aspect of this trip is the scenery. Xinjiang has some of the most diverse landscapes I’ve ever seen, and we could literally walk from grasslands to sand dunes to pine forests to rocky mountain crags, all in the same day. Not to mention we’d sleep with 50 degree temps at night, and hike in 80-90 degree weather in the day. All this of course, with 50 lbs. of gear on your back. This may seem like a lot, but with the quality equipment JWA provided, it wasn’t all that bad. Chris and his crew have all top-notch gear, from lightweight tents, folding camp stoves, and a water filtration system that could fit in the palm of your hand. All of our food was dehydrated and had to brought into the wilderness, with each of us carrying a dinner that would be eaten according to our menu’s schedule. Each day we were assigned one of following tasks: cooks, water team, journalist, Leave No Trace inspector, and leader of the day (navigator). Most of these sound pretty self-explanatory, less Leave No Trace inspector. Leave No Trace is a minimalist movement among outdoorsmen (and women) all over the world to minimize waste and reduce the impact people have on nature/wildlife, or more simply put, keep our beautiful places beautiful. This is something I knew nothing about, and although it seems radical, I can see how this ideology could really make an impact in preserving this planet. I say it seemed radical because we were required to eat the entire apple, core and all. If you dropped a macaroni noodle on the ground, you ate it. Want to wash your dinner bowl? Great, but you can only use your tongue and saliva. Time to brush your teeth, but don’t spit, you gotta spray that stuff so it doesn’t leave a big white pile of crud on the ground. The idea is that when you leave a campsite, it should look like you were never there. It took some getting used to, but I think it’s an amazing idea and I fully support the movement. It really makes you think, “What if we could get this sort of mentality in the average city dwelling consumer?” It could really make an impact not just in the wilderness, but in urban areas as well. It’s the sort of shift in thinking I personally believe must take place before it’s too late, or this earth will be destroyed.

So off we went, each day cleaning up our campsite spic and span, taking every spec of trash (minimized) out of the woods from whence we came. Overall, we stopped at 4 separate campsites during the 8 days, including one at the base of a mountain next to a river made from melted snow runoff. We stopped there about day 4, where we got the chance to jump in and wash up a bit, even though it was freezing…..it was totally worth it. After that we, as a group, entered a 24 hour fast, and one whole day of solitude in the woods, without talking or communication with any of the group members. My solitude day started out on a bad note, as I lost my brand new hiking shoe in the river as I was crossing it. We were miles away from anything that could remotely be considered civilization, so I had to get that shoe back. I ran down the river and eventually found it caught on a rock. I went out and got it, but on my way back my sandal fell off my foot, and shot down the river. Feeling disgusted and as though there were some evil force trying to stop me from getting the most out of this day, I ventured further down river, where I saw my foam sandal swirling around in a small pool. I jumped down and grabbed it right before it was shot out, and finally I could start what was to be a long day of reading, prayer, and meditation. Almost losing my 2 types of footwear was totally worth it.

It was an awesome time to be free of all distractions; no phones, no internet, nothing.

No tourists, just you, your group, and the great wilderness of northern Xinjiang……that and the occasional Kazakh local cruising by on horse (or motorcycle!) herding their sheep. Because Xinjiang and Kazakhstan share a common border, many people in this area, though technically considered China, are still living here as remnants of their homeland, seldom speaking much Mandarin, but extremely friendly/curious nonetheless.

I can’t say enough about this trip, so just look at the pictures below, they speak for themselves. And let me know if you have any questions!

Up next: Urumqi

A group of 10 of us hired a private bus to shuttle from Shanghai out to Jingdezhen for a day of hiking and soaking up the local handmade porcelain shops that its known for. In fact one of the villages we visited had several elderly men and women who had been making pottery since they were teenagers…..and they were well into their great grandparent years. They still employ techniques used in the early days, with everything being done sans electricity. They use just about every extremity of their body to move the potting wheel and carve the bow all at the same time. They were making those things with impressive efficiency, likely to be sold and exported as the fine hand made porcelain dishes they are. Stacks of freshly hand molded bowls lined the staging area, each one nearly identical to the other. But they don’t just make bowls, you name it and they can make it. Not only that, but they can custom paint it for you, pack it up and ship it directly to your doorstep after its been kiln dried, for a small extra charge. Size didn’t seem to be a factor either as some of the bowls could have doubled as small swimming pools. We moseyed around the village for awhile and learned how to tell the difference between porcelain and plain old pottery. It’s just like how you tell the difference between glass and crystal, just wet your finger and go around the rim of the bowl. If it rings you got the good stuff.

After that we jetted off to another part of town where the true artists get a chance to express their creativity amongst dozens of little shops comprising their local art district. This sweet little area boasts some of the most original art I’ve seen in China thus far. These aren’t your typical mountain scenes or bamboo trees drawn with black water color, but real artists making real sculptures from real cool ideas. It’s a great area to spend an afternoon talking to the locals and having a cup of coffee while you peruse through the stores, each one offering something different from the next. Which is a breath of fresh air if you’ve spent time in China, where you often find the same stuff over and over again.

After that we whisked off to Wuyuan county to the small water village of Likeng. Upon our initial arrival (in the pouring) rain, this place looked like a gold mine. And it was, lots of small waterways running through the village and locals meandering about doing their daily routine. But then the next morning, buses of Chinese tourists swarmed in crowding the already narrow walkways lining the river roads. It was definitely unexpected, but we still got to see some great views of the village, as well as take a sweet little hike outside a few kilometers where we finally escaped the red-hatted tour groups. Out in the country side is where we saw the amazing views of the Golden Rape flowers, which is the main reason people flock to this area. We came just a tad early as the flowers weren’t quite in full bloom, but it was still beautiful nonetheless.

If you are making your way through central China, definitely put this place, or one of the many villages in Wuyuan county, on your ‘must see’ list. The best time to go is in March when they are in full bloom. Hostels and cheap hotels are in the area, but you may have to book in advance during the spring time as literally dozens of busloads of tourists come each day. Check out the pics below and see for yourself!

After a few gorgeous days relaxing in the backwaters, slowly being push-poled around in our little wooden boat, my buddy Trevor and I parted ways as he was heading back to China and I still had a few days left on my trip. I hopped a bus down to Trivandrum, the southern capital of the Kerala region where I was flying out of early the next morning. Thus far in our trip, we’d done quite well getting around without any reservations or fixed travel dates, so I wrongly assumed that my next destination wouldn’t be any exception to that rule. After I got off the 6 hour (should have been 4 hour) bus ride, I was naturally greeted almost immediately by a local taxi driver wanting to take me to my hotel. When I said I didn’t have one, he saw the opportunity to make a little extra commission and find one for me. I agreed, thinking I’d probably get ripped off a bit, but it was already nearly 11pm, I had just gotten off an exhaust filled bus, and was quite eager to pay whatever he asked to get 5 hours of sleep before heading to the airport at 5am. He took me to all the hotels he knew….all of them were full. Then he had the brilliant idea (it was brilliant at the time) to take me out to the airport so I could stay at one of the airport hotels. “Perfect, then I can just get up, walk across the street to the airport, and have no worries about getting there in the morning,” I thought. We found no less than 7 places within spitting distance of the airport, that all claimed to be full. After getting frustrated and prying a bit, I came to find out that none of the hotels possessed the certificate that allowed foreigners to stay there. Without exception, they all refused me, even when I offered extra money. This took me by surprise, as it was the middle of the night, no one was around, I had an early flight, why can’t I just pay a few extra rupees and get a few hours of shut-eye? It seemed every other person I’d met in India would have jumped at the chance. At this point the driver suggested I pay him extra to take me back to the city to find another hotel. It was midnight at this point, so I politely refused…..actually it may not have been very polite. He then told me I could stay in the airport as my check-in time was now only about 5 hours away. I really didn’t want to but was out of options, and out of patience with the driver. In the back of my mind I knew I was going to get screwed somehow, but he reassured me I could just go and sleep in the airport. I finally agreed, he dropped me off, and sped off like a bandit as soon as I paid up. And a minute later I knew why, the guards at the airport gate, who are extremely intense and armed up to the gills, told me the airport won’t open until 6am. I should have seen it coming, but there was nothing I could do now but find a spot on the sidewalk and sleep on the new blanket I purchased in Goa. I slept a few winks, but mostly stayed awake as I was so paranoid about someone stealing my gear. The morning came, I got on my flight, literally made the transfer in Delhi with under 60 seconds to spare, and finally arrived in Srinigar, the base hub for exploring the beautiful Kasmir region of northern India.

OK back to Kasmir and all things Kasmiri. The people there ethnically are nothing like traditional Indian people I had met in Delhi or the south part of India. Almost a caucasian appearance, mixed with a middle eastern look. Imagine seeing a blue-eyed, white skinned, middle eastern facial featured man….not uncommon there. After I went through the 4 security checks at the Srinigar airport (this place is guarded like Fort Knox), I was finally able to exit where I was greeted by my house boat host. He drove me to the house boat I would spend the cold night in, and the whole time was blabbing about how he thought I was coming yesterday and waited 4 hours at the airport the day before. I felt bad, but what could I do if he read the itinerary wrong? We finally got to the lake which was dotted with thousands of houseboats that are used exclusively as hotels, and got situated. After a tour of the lake, seeing the local life and the alleys between all the boats, I decided to catch up on some rest. This proved near impossible as my host kept inviting vendors in to put the ‘hard sell’ on me, mostly cheap junk dubbed as ‘local art’ or ‘handicrafts.’ He even let them come into my room while I was trying to sleep! Frustrated, I finally got some rest, even though I was quite excited about the next days adventure: snowboarding in India.

I woke up the next morning, packed my things, and we made our way into town where I hopped into a ‘share Jeep.’ These are SUV’s that, once full of customers, drive up the mountain to various mountain villages, and eventually Gulmarg. The higher we went, the more snow came down, and more excited I got. When we finally got to Gulmarg, it was absolutely dumping snow. I rushed to the rental shop to get my setup, and checked into my guesthouse as fast as I could, thinking I could still get a full afternoon of riding in.

Gulmarg Panorama

Now, to provide a bit of context, Gulmarg is situated in an extremely ideal location for skiing/snowboarding. Endless acres of back-country, including 5 sq km of in bounds terrain, runs up to 7km long, 400-500 inches annual snowfall, and a vertical of over 3500 ft (village to top gondola), all overlooking the Pakistani/Indian Himalayan mountain range. Sound sweet? It could be….assuming its developed……or developed well I should say. This place has all the makings of a snowboarders dream, but those can be quickly shot down after arrival.

I suited up and was ready to roll around noon. I went to the Gondola which is 2 phases. Phase 1 takes you up to the top of the treeline, and phase 2 up to the peak. With the snow coming down so plentifully, I was quite disappointed to learn that the gondolas were closed for the day. Why? Too windy, even though a single howl could not be heard. Then I heard the mother of all excuses: “Too much snow.” What kind of place was this? The Twilight Zone? As I tried to fathom this paradox, I eventually had to accept the fact I wasn’t getting on either Gondola today. I decided to hit the bunny hill which featured a T-bar for getting to the top. The moment I grabbed hold of the T-bar, the whole system shut down. Come to find out, for safety reasons, it’s “illegal” for snowboarders to use T-bars. Who knew India was so big on snowboarder control? After hiking up a few times, becoming more and more frustrated with the fact I’m on one of the most epic mountains in the world with one of the most epic snows of the year that I can’t touch, I decided to cut my losses, relax for the evening and try tomorrow. Day 1 = epic fail, and only 2 days left. The next 2 days made for some great powder riding….I would venture to say there was too much powder, as I was frequently getting stuck if the terrain wasn’t steep enough. I never got to go on the phase 2 part of the gondola however, all any of us could do was stand on top of phase 1, look up, and drool over the powder oasis above that awaited a more patient rider than myself. On my last day they were blasting on the peak, doing some avalanche prevention, but they didn’t finish in time for me to make a run up there. The final morning, I headed back to Srinigar for one more night on a house boat, a bit disappointed in Gulmarg, but thankful for the experience and the amazingly friendly people I had met there.

Finally, I flew back to Delhi for a few days before returning to China….O ya, and while I was there I cruised down to see the Taj Mahal, one of those must-see things you just gotta do if in India. Here is the pic to prove it!

Taj Mahal

Although quite impressive, the Taj Mahal is quite overrated in my eyes. I think all the hype is built up around the sole fact this place is just one giant tomb that a king had built out of the grief he felt after losing his wife. A nice gesture no doubt, but there are many more things in India that will really wow you, so I suggest you get off the beaten path!