Ajanta and Ellora Caves

Photos are here:

India Ajanta Caves - http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=4360222&l=e81d5b35a6&id=771224918

India Ellora Caves - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=173489&id=771224918&l=741ed6b40f

It was back on the trains the next day for the journey down to Ajanta - the first bit of the journey was quite busy with foreigners heading for Agra and the Taj Mahal - some very strange girls sat opposite me cuddling teddy bears (they were in their 20's - each to their own I suppose) and I ended up chatting to a Dutch guy Roy who was gave me some really cool places to visit in Tamil Nadu. Spent the rest of the day drifting after Agra even though I was in the really uncomfy side aisle seat - it's not great for your back - just after tea time this great big domestic started with this family group about the lack of seats - it was quite funny as is India more and more people got involved - not sure how it was resolved but eventually they shut up. The guy next to me then invited me home to meet his wife in remote Mahdra Pradesh and then wanted my phone number - managed to extricate myself from the situation by saying that I'd only known him 20 minutes, it was a bit early in the relationship to be swapping phone numbers - thankfully he left it at that - sometimes you don't know whether to be friendly as men especially can take it the wrong way!!

As it was with an early morning train (they're never late!!) the train pulled into Jalgaon at six in the morning - easily found the hotel I wanted to stay at the Plaza but from the outside it looked like it would be way outside my budget. However I've got to say it was one of the cleanest and cheapest places I stayed in in the whole of India - rooms from 250 rupees (!!) up to 900 which was a bit surprise. I went for the 300 rupee room - the owner was just so helpful (a bit too much) as he insisted on drawing me various maps of the town whilst I just wanted to get to my room as my stomach was making ominous gurgling noises.

Finding the bus to Ajanta wasn't too hard though I never understand why when I say something like "Ajanta" to the bus driver 20 people have to get involved and have an in depth discussion about it - it's a simple yes or no answer! It was a bit of a rickety ride there and instead of dropping me at the entrance to the caves - the bus stopped in the village before and I had no idea which was the way. Got a lot of stares as I headed off down the highway looking for them - mind you I think sometimes I think it's the way I dress straw hat, fancy top and Indian ali baba pants. I was quite lucky as I got to the caves early so avoided the crowds - it was a really amazing place set on a bend in the river - the British discovered the place by chance in 1819 all overgrown having been abandoned by the Buddhists around about the fourth century. The paintings in the first couple of caves were quite jaw dropping and really well preserved and I wasn't hassled too much until I climbed up to the viewpoint overlooking the river where this guy was pretty insistant that I buy an ornamental elephant from him. Bus back to Jalgoan wasn't too good as I had to stand for about 20k's - definately no gentlemen on Indian buses!








The next day was another early start to catch the bus to Aurangabad - pretty uncomfortable ride as some kind soul loaded a hoofing great trunk on to the floor in front of me and then dissappeared off to sit in a comfy seat with leg room at the back - thanks a lot mate!! Had a bit of performance finding a cheap hotel in Aurangabad as they either wouldn't haggle, no longer existed or I just didn't feel safe staying there with the dodgy dudes on reception so eventually ended up at a nameless place near the train station that once I'd paid for the room found out that alcohol was forbidden - not happy with that especially as there was a beer shop opposite - usually its hunt the slipper finding a beer shop.


The trip to Ellora the next day was great and it was just easier to go through the tourist office than to organise it myself. The only down side to this was they packed a lot into a one day trip - the first stop was at Daulatabad Fort which I was really impressed with as it was carved out out of a hill and surrounded by a huge moat and booby traps. The one thing I didn't like was the dark passages we had to walk through which were full of bats - I was very Scooby Doo about that bit of the trip as although I've had the rabies vaccine I couldn't get a booster before I left - Heath Hospital in Cardiff the only place in South Wales where they had some vaccine wouldn't let me have any as they didn't want to release it to people going on "holiday" - I ask you when was the last time there was a mass rabies outbreak in the UK!!

Next stop was Ellora - it is similar to Ajanta and the caves are split into three distinctive periods Buddhist, Hindu and Jain - the Kailash temple in the centre of the complex took over a 100 years to construct and I think is the biggest Hindu temple in India - it really is an amazing place to look at - though we only looked at about four of the caves it was enough. One shrine and shopping emporium later we ended up at the Bibi-ka-Maqbara - it's strange place built as a mini Taj Mahal but not quite getting it right - another 100 rupees for foreigners to get in - personally I would have just stuck my camera over the fence to save time and money. It was a really tiring day (I know there are other things more tiring than being on holiday) but I did meet some nice people on the trip including Anou and Elanka from Israel and Germany who I went out for a meal with in the evening - they were travelling for two months, heading down to Goa and hadn't had the best start to their trip with a rip off hotel in Mumbai and scammed ticketwise on the bus to Auranagabad.

I think the bus pixies were smiling on me the next day as rickshaw up to the station and straight on the bus to Pune - 200 rupees and a nice front seat next to the conductor. Arriving in Pune round about tea time I managed to get the driver to drop me just behind the train station and picked up a rickshaw to the cheapest hotel in my book. Had quite a shock when I got there over 10 pounds for a room and not a great one at that - managed to get the manager who was a real sergeant major down on the price but I don't think the Grand Hotel really lived up to its name - though the cats were cool that hung round in the garden!!

Only stayed a day before heading out on the overnight bus down to Goa - I was on the 8.30 bus (this is India) - twenty to nine pick up showed up at travel agents, we then spent a mad hour driving round Pune picking up people and finally got on the real bus at 10.00 in some random car park on the outskirts of the city. Not a bad nights sleep as the person in front didn't recline their seat though as usual bit of a fitful sleep waking up at one point as we careered down a mountain road - that was a bit on the scarey side!! Only had a tiny reception commitee when the bus pulled up in Margoa - they all thought a taxi was best me - me disagreeing that I thought bus was best. Decided to head for Palolem as it was only a couple of hours down the coast - journey there slightly marred by the little fat man who sat so close to me on the ladies seat it was really uncomfortable (few elbows in his direction and he still wasn't getting the hint). Palolem was quieter than I expected and I had to get a bit Israeli with my haggling for a 200 rupee hut as the tout took me to a 300r one with heavy emphasis on the 400r one with ensuite - got there in the end and ended up at Tony's huts next to some nice overexcitable Israeli's - the only downside being the trog down to the toilet in the middle of the night as it was a bit of a beer heaven....