Monkeys, Caves, Temples and Tombs

We have spent the last six days in Aurangabad, a small city in the north of Maharastra. We've seen temples, tombs and caves till they came out of our ears. More details below.


On the train to Aurangabad.


Getting from pune to aurangabad took about 10 hours on the train (most of which we spent sitting still). As is becoming the norm, people were very keen to talk to us. In particular everyone asks which country we are from. This was most peculiar when we were visiting Dualatabad fort and about 70+ school children , on a field trip, wanted to say hello, introduce themeselves and shake out hands all at once. The fort itself was amazing. Having passed a double layer of wall an attacker then faced a short swim and the clamber through pitch black cave all while being attacked by men  and traps.
The next day we went to see man made caves at ellora. The most impresive of which can barely be described and ceased to be a cave because the work was so extensive. Nothing in the picture was built, all of it was hewn from the surrounding rock.
Yesterday we saw a genuine, local market for the first time. The colours and smells were fantastic. It was nice to see people selling their own products which they took some pride in , unlike the knock-off tat we had seen for sale previously. The town was Muslim, almost entirely, reminding me of the historical religious division which seems absent in the fast growing cities we have visited. India's greatest impresion on me is still its busyness. Everyone everywhere is working all the time, roadsides and pavements are permanently clogged with small business operations.
Jamie



The rock-cut temple at Ellora. This whole enclave was once solid rock.


This week's been pretty different from our last. I've gotten used to most things now although it's still supprising when the someone asks us if they can get a picture with us for the first time each day. It's quite funny that you don't hail taxis here, they hail you! Then they tell you where you should go, that it's much further that you can walk and that their price is the best!
The caves at Ellora and Ajanta were incredible, as you can see from the pictures, the most impressive one we saw was in construction for 200 years (10 generations)! The paintings were less exciting due to the damage and the fact we could barely work out what any of them meant, but were amazing none the less.
The apparently impregnable fort at Daulatabad was pretty cool and damn well fortified. Khuldabad was nice too, lots of pristine tombs, and the market there was particularly good. We bought some soap to wash clothes with there but have been decreasingly fond of the smell. It smells baaaad, but we'll get used to it (it's currently quarantined in our bathroom!) We're off to Goa tomorrow which is exciting, up at 5am and probably wont get to our next hotel until around 9pm or so! I'll give you more info asap!
Peter

Being swarmed by schoolkids at Daulatabad Fort.

The train from Pune to Aurangabad was painful to say the least. 10 hours without a seat on a cramped and dirty train. We made friends with a young indian who Jamie spent most of the time talking to. The train took a lot longer than we expected, due to hour long waits at certain stations, for connecting trains to arrive on the opposite platforms. Lunch consisted of samosas and other indian snacks bought from merchants who would come up to the train at every stop. Dirty and grimy, but hot and tasty as hell.
Aurangabad, though a relatively uninteresting city in itself, acted as a useful launch pad for day trips to the beautiful carved caves at Ellora and Ajanta, as well as colourful muslim tombs at nearby Khuldabad, and the impressive fort at Daulatabad. Our cheapest accomodation yet turned out to be one of the nicest, with a clean room with attached bathroom working out at £2.80 each a night. Everything here is so cheap its still not quite become normal. I bought a genuine leather wallet with zips and decent stitching yesterday for a grand total of 43p.
The caves were beautiful, and it was nigh on incomprehendable that they used to be solid rock, and nothing had been built from the ground. They were used by buddhist and hindu monks and preists as places of worship, and places to live.
Tomorrow we leave for the party capital of india, Goa, albeit a month before the party season properly begins. I'm looking forward to the white sand beaches and coconut lined shores, beautiful sunsets and walks along the coast, but less looking forward to the 13 hour journey getting there. Hope you enjoy the photos!
John

Dyes on sale at the marked in Khuldabad.

A buddhist cave at Ellora.

As we were leaving Ellora, we came across a troop of monkeys playing and begging for food off the visitors. Needless to say, we didnt end up leaving Ellora for at least an hour, as they were endlessley watchable (and incredibly human). Even after deleting every photo I could bear to lose of the primates, I still have 20 of them on my camera memory card. Here's my favourite.

The only thing that could make this better would be a newspaper...

Please leave us a comment, and as always, click on the slideshow to the right for larger pictures.