Hotel Sharan Shirdi

And so began our long journey south via Delhi to Jalgaon and Aurangabad where we stopped to view the magnificent UNESCO caves at Ellora and Ajanta. Aged around the second century BC they are a remarkable set of many Temples dug out of the sheer rock face - Hindu, Buddhist and Jain religion- they are all very impressive!
Jo and I had a close encounter with a huge monkey who growled at us when we were eating our dinner- when he flared his fangs we ran out ...

... is other places we have visited.

The main attraction at the Ajunta caves are murals on the walls and ceilings. The caves were dug out of solid rock between 200 B.C. and 650 A.D. Of the 30 caves, 5 were Buddhist temples, the rest were monasteries. Some are pretty well preserved, while others have caved in or were never complete. The art is beautiful, using subdued colors, primarily yellow and red, to depict the life of the Buddha ...

... a table cloth that was made on a wooden loom that used pumch cards. The cards reminded me of the old cards used by player pianos.

Our hotel for the night was the Lemon Tree. A well-run hotel that provided a welcome oasis in the middle of a not so attractive Indian city. As usual the food was great and we seemed far away from the traffic, cows, oxen and buffalo that freely roam the streets of Auragabad.

... s very wrong in our family, we don’t have much money; showed our 'empty’ wallets. He said we have lots of ATMs and we should get the cash out of it. We said we spent all the money on fuel. We outdid ourselves to appear as the ‘Victims of Circumstances’.

He then thought for a moment and said “main idhar chhodta bhi, to bhi agey tum log nahi bach paate, aagey bahut traffic check post hai”.

We said in unison “ bas kismat ke ...

... Rs.-150). Buses leave almost every 3 hours from Mumbai to Shirdi. So your wait will not be long. The buses make about 2 stops for food. The restaurants are non-vegetarian. So make sure you pack some snacks and bottled water for the trip. Keep an eye on your luggage! Try to get a bus that departs before 11am so you will not arrive too late at Shirdi. Where to stay and eat:I would personally recommend (for foreigners) to stay at Hotel Neeta. Hotel Neeta is ...

... upstairs and fed a delicious North Indian breakfast. We thanked them immensely and they gave us books of essays and a DVD showing off their temples and illustrating their faith. The Sadhu had also told me they are in the process of building an Akshardam temple in Toronto. The marble carving is currently being done in India and will eventually be shipped to Toronto where they will assemble the temple. It was a great start to the day and a perfect illustration of the hospitality of ...

... down and so no scaffolding was required. The best cave for me was cave number 10, called Viswakarma or Carpenters (Pic 19-26). It's called this because the ribs in the roof of the cave look like wooden beams. Each rib has a figurine at the end of it and there is a giant Buddha in there as well. Also impressive was the Kailasa Temple with its huge stone elephants and intricately carved central building (Pic 14-18). Some of the caves had bats in them, glad I had the rabies shot (Pic 1).

... while a few drunkards danced horrendously on the dance floor. After a few moments of trying to figure out what exactly was going on, in strolls Miss India (literally). The womam competing for the Miss India (Earth) pagent made her way center stage. Without pause, every over-hormonal 20-somthing stopped what they were doing and proceeded to stare wide eyed at this woman. I've never seen something like it before, it was like being in a den of heinas and she ...

It's been a little over a week since the rains unleashed their fury on Mumbai. While the city, slowly but surely, gets itself back together the devastation is hard to believe. Hundreds have died and many have lost everything. I read of stories in the newspaper of people dying of heart attacks when they came home to see all their belongings underwater. As the flood waters subside and Mubaikars begin to pick up lives, it will be ...

... out the scene at the TEmple. On the way, the most amazing thing happened. I found Guava. Because most of my thoughts revolve around food and where to find new food items (esp fruit), I was eagerly awaiting my trip to India with thoughts of smothering my mouth in mangos, guavas, melons, citaphar, and other exotic fruit. When I got there I was horrified to know that it was off season for yummies like the guava. But lucky ...