Welcomhotel Rama International Aurangabad

We enjoyed our morning at the Lemon Tree Hotel. I was especially happy to see the cappuccino machine that actually works. Our driver picked us up at 8:30 AM for the 2 hour ride to Ajunta Caves, another world heritage site. The ride was interesting - we passed workers in cotton and sugar cane fields. The rural poverty is very apparent. Dingy small towns where dozens of men sat outside cafes on plastic benches. In between the towns were ...

... get there. On the ride back to town we stopped to look at the crumbling walls and fortress towers that protected the side.

Back in town we got a feel for Auragabad. There isn't much to recommend it. It seems depressed and dirty compared to our travels in Kerala. There seems to be a very high ration of oxes and goats to people.

One thing Auragabad is known for is textiles. We asked our driver to take us to a ...

Daulatabad fort is located about 13 KM from Aurangabad on the way to Ellora. This fort has an elaborate defence system comprising of many gates, moat, canons and maze. The Menda (Ram) canon is among the largest canons in India. The dark maze is home to ...

We moved for Fardapur back to Arungabad. This is the location of the Ellora Caves. These caves, unlike to totally Buddhist caves at Ajanta, are a mix of Jain, Hindu and Buddhist Caverns. The Ellora group of 34 Caves is from a later period. The Buddhist Group of 12 caves is from 600-800 AD, the Hindu group or 17 caves is from 600-800 AD, and the Jain group of 5 caves is from 800-1000 AD. While the Ajanta caves are famous for their ...

... and drink. So...I had brought with me a small cooler with a couple beers in it and I thought I was going to be the "bad boy" of the trip....trying to sneak beer onto an India Railways car (which "technically" is not allowed). Turns out I was tame compared to some of the older expats who brought full size coolers and nearly complete bar sets. Anyway...the 10 hour train ride from 12:30PM to 11:PM in the evening actually ...

... Leute in 500 Jahren Tempel gemeisselt haben. D** groesste von ihnen d** "Kailasa Tempel" ist dann auch wirklich sehr beeindrucked, insbesond**e wenn man sich vorstellt, dass hi** keine Steine aufeinand** gestapelt wurden, sond**n ** einfach p** Hand aus dem Fels geschlagen wurde. Insgesamt gibt es hi** 34 grosse und kleine "Hoehlen" und Nax bestand darauf, jede einzelne anzusehen. In den Hoehlen selb** war es dann auch wund**bar kuehl (und unt** den Decken hingen hund**te von Fled ...

... to 'Tomb of the Lady', but has earned the nickname 'poor man's Taj' because it was made to rival the Taj Mahal. While we are taking photos of this marvelous piece of Indian history the locals just want to take photos of us! Its was kinda funny being in photo after photo with this family and that family. No press please! As you can tell from the pictures it was grand old time.

... got in one for a small ride. Classic, so much daggy tourist action and too many tourist's of the day to choose one. There were giant Buddha statues in nearly every cave, years and years of work. When we left the site, there were some crystal vendors doing the hardcore sell and we ended up buying three pieces of clear quartz for a bargain basement price after they chased us for about 100 metres after we had left the shop trying to seal a deal. Five of them followed us ...

... monks, so I was able to impress everyone with my vast knowledge of Tibetan language. They did look startled when I started chatting in Tibetan, which made my last trip to India worthwhile J There was also a rowdy group of Korean tourists at our hotel who partied all night. But back to the caves... [Naresh: I showed our guide a picture of the reclining Buddha we'd seen in Thailand, and he said "yes, that is a copy of ...

We drove over 5 hours to the Ellora Caves. It was quite surreal. The drive alone was a great adventure. I have a few great videos showing the interesting driving that is found here. I also took lots of animal pics as animals of all shapes and sizes roam the cities. Some are owned and some not. The rural traffic is a mix of tractors, Bullock carts, Goods Carrier trucks and Jeeps overloaded with people.