Two holidays in a week. Unheard of. And unexpected. And wonderful. And requiring a 2-part update, because otherwise this one will just be toooo long!
An Introduction:
This happy occurence was partly accident, and partly design. Jessica and I decided long ago that we'd love to take a trip together; probably to see the Taj Mahal, because it's a must-see if you come to India, and although I've seen it before, the prospect of travelling with someone rather than on my own was great! Therefore, we requested - as a special treat for all our (preempted) hard work during the crazy month in which we were both gwenning during back-to-back events - 3 days off together. A privilege which Jen very kindly granted.
And then, amazingly, we discovered that at the end of January, 3 SVs and both interns all had the same 2 days off. So of course we planned a trip. And to round it all off, Emily had to re-arrange her days off so she could run the environment consultation, so then all we young volunteering folk were off together. Wonderful.
Part 1:
The first trip was a 2-day cave temple extravaganza. We hired Mina's 7person car (Emily's boyfriend Phil taking the 7th seat) and a driver, and set off after work on a 4+ hour drive to Aurangabad. We'd booked a hotel online which cost us each about 15GBP (no pound sign on this computer - argh!) for 2 nights. It was basic, but nice. Waking up about as early as we do for work, we ordered room service breakfast as it was the only option. A mixture of omelette, dosa (indian pancake-type things), toast and tea/coffee was ordered, and promptly wolfed down before we met our driver for our first day's excitement.
A 2 and a half hour drive brought us to Ajanta and the set of Buddhist caves there. These caves were unlike anything I've ever seen before. Phil stated that someone had written that they should more properly be called 'rock-carved cathedrals' than 'cave temples', and I could see how that thought would come about. Built into the side of a mountain
and painstakingly carved out and painted, the 30 caves were all similar, yet all different. Columns, giant images of Buddha, spherical centre-pieces and beautiful carvings and paintings were everywhere.
It was a hot day and we wandered between the caves without shoes on, as we soon realised that it was too much effort to put them back on after exploring one temple, only to have to take them off again a couple of metres further on. Occasionally stopping for a break of biscuits or twix/es/i (how does one pluralise twix?!), we spent almost 3 hours making our way around all of the caves, taking photographs of the sites and each other
as we climbed over and tucked ourselves into stairs and crevices and doorways. It was a truly incredible experience.
There was one restaurant on site, and by the time we'd finished, we were starving, despite the numerous snack stops. We ordered what pretty much became standard for the trip - a mixture of rice, noodles, a couple of curry dishes and lots of bread, with sweet lime soda for most of us, a coke for Steph and a pineapple juice for Jessica, and sat impatiently waiting for the food to arrive. Unfortunately, it took a long time to arrive, when it did arrive it was cold, and then we had to wait another 5 minutes for our plates to arrive so we could actually tuck in. And the lime sodas were weirdly not fizzy and decidedly fluffy tasting. Disappointing. We did our best, but it wasn't the greatest end to that part of the day, and we were all a bit flat as we got back on the bus which would return us to the carpark and our waiting driver.
The day wasn't over yet. We wanted to go and see 'Bibi-Ka-Maqbara'; also known as the 'Poor Man's Taj'. It is a much tinier (and cheaper) version of the Taj Mahal, but still a pretty sight, and we timed it perfectly to be there at sunset, so got some good photographs. I have to admit to being slightly underwhelmed, having seen the 'real thing', but it was nice to imagine how impressed Jessica would be in a few days when she, too, got to see the bigger, grander version!
After this, we decided to rely on the good old Lonely Planet guide, which Bron had thoughtfully brought with her, to find a restaurant for dinner. This was done in the hope that it'd be a definite improvement on lunch; we didn't want to risk just choosing some random place, but wanted a recommendation. We chose a hotel restaurant which was described as having 'epic fruit juices' which made Jess and Steph in particular very happy. It was a good choice. The restaurant was open air, clean and friendly. The food was tasty, plentiful, and hot. The lime sodas were fizzy. It was heaven! We spent a lovely time there reviving, chatting, laughing, making plans for the next day, and then decided that when we got back to the hotel, we'd pop across the road for a mysterious chocolate drink named a 'cad-b', which Christa had introduced Em and Bron to back in Pune, and they'd been going on about ever since! Then we all returned to the hotel, and after a bit of a chat all fell into bed ready for what the next day would bring.
The Lonely Planet states that, if you only have one day for cave temple exploration, you should pick Ellora over Ajanta. Having enjoyed and been so impressed by the caves at Ajanta, we were therefore intrigued by the prospect of Ellora being even more amazing. Ellora is a lot closer to Aurangabad than Ajanta, and so we were there before the hottest part of the day began, which was nice. And we were not disappointed in our expectations. Right at the centre of the complex is the Kailasa Temple. It's huge and impressive and words cannot describe it. I'm not even sure that photographs do it justice.
Apparently, it was carved out of the rock from the top down - meaning no scaffolding was ever needed.... I can't picture or imagine this. It's incredible. We spent a long, long time in this one 'cave' before deciding that we probably should check out the others as well.
We went up the numbers (Kailasa is 16) so that we could see the hindu and jain temples; the lower numbers were Buddhist ones and we figured we'd leave them until last incase we ran out of time, as all the Ajanta caves had been buddhist in design. The temples here were a bit more spaced out than at Ajanta, and so we wandered freely at our own pace between them, investigating inside some, content to just rest outside others.
We made 'friends' with a lot of Indian tourists who were keen to take our photographs; Em started to collect photos of them in return! As we reached the last 5 caves; the Jain temples which were a half mile walk further up the hill; we decided that perhaps we were infact a little caved-out, and wouldn't bother walking all the way back to see the first 15 caves. So we called our driver to pick us up, and requested that he find us somewhere for lunch before continuing our journey. He stopped at a hotel just down the road, which by happy coincidence was also in the LP, and so we happily settled there and had some good food. A large group of older japanese tourists was also there, and they had a buffet laid out, with a guide explaining all the food to them. It was amusing, because I realised that must be what we seem like to all the Indian diners when we take large groups out to a restaurant and do lots of explanations and mass orders.
Feeling refreshed once again, it was back in the car to another amazing destination - Daulatabad fort. We'd driven past this on the way to the caves, and stared up at the seemingly tiny building on top of a huge hill in wonder. The plan had always been to stop here, and the guide book warned us that it took about an hour to climb, but that seemed like an impossible achievement as we gazed upwards.
There was a car park next to the entrance, so we weaved our way around stalls and hawkers, and made our way to the ticket booth and the entrance. There was a long, wide path sloping slightly upwards, with a tall orange tower and lots of steps visible in the distance.
We made our way up, not stopping to take many photos, but rather with the focus on reaching the top and, as Em put it, "we can absorb the culture on the way back down"! The fort was designed to be a real stronghold - totally impenetrable. There were gates and tunnels and a moat with a rickety bridge (not my favourite part). The most interesting bit was a pitch-black tunnel (apparently inhabited by bats, although they don't bother me so I didn't really notice) that twisted and turned and had uneven steps. We made our way carefully through with the help of my headtorch and Em's flashlight, and survived. I have a feeling that there are actually a lot more connected tunnels designed to confuse and trap the enemy, but these have been blocked off so that tourists are safe! It was really interesting.
Having managed this, we were confronted with even more steps, and lots of monkeys too. The monkeys generally weren't a problem, but at one point, a few started on some... 'monkey business' shall we say, right next to where we'd stopped for a breather, and there were a couple of tense seconds as we worked our way past them! Reaching the top was wonderful. It gave a real sense of achievement to be able to sit in windows of the building at the top, and look out over the desert and mountains of the Deccan Plateau.
I can see why one mad king marched all of Delhi down there - because of the security - but I can also see why they ran out of water and had to march back!
We had one more stop to make before heading back to Pune; a handweaving factory. We were shown how people weave saris and scarves by hand, making such beautiful, intricate patterns.
But it takes months to make one sari, and so of course they have huge pricetags. We had a lot of fun looking at all the different colours and patterns, though,
and did buy some of the lower-priced scarves as presents for people at home, in general. I also fell in love with a black and white skirt that might now be my new favourite, and Jess bought a similar one!
Phew! Holiday one. In a very short summary. It was a really awesome trip. We took ipod speakers and sang random songs at the top of our voices, ate loads of snacks, talked and laughed and saw amazing sites, and got a lot of exercise in the process! It was a really, really awesome weekend, and I'm very glad that we all miraculously had the same days off so that we were able to do it :)
TTFN
An Introduction:
This happy occurence was partly accident, and partly design. Jessica and I decided long ago that we'd love to take a trip together; probably to see the Taj Mahal, because it's a must-see if you come to India, and although I've seen it before, the prospect of travelling with someone rather than on my own was great! Therefore, we requested - as a special treat for all our (preempted) hard work during the crazy month in which we were both gwenning during back-to-back events - 3 days off together. A privilege which Jen very kindly granted.
And then, amazingly, we discovered that at the end of January, 3 SVs and both interns all had the same 2 days off. So of course we planned a trip. And to round it all off, Emily had to re-arrange her days off so she could run the environment consultation, so then all we young volunteering folk were off together. Wonderful.
Part 1:
The first trip was a 2-day cave temple extravaganza. We hired Mina's 7person car (Emily's boyfriend Phil taking the 7th seat) and a driver, and set off after work on a 4+ hour drive to Aurangabad. We'd booked a hotel online which cost us each about 15GBP (no pound sign on this computer - argh!) for 2 nights. It was basic, but nice. Waking up about as early as we do for work, we ordered room service breakfast as it was the only option. A mixture of omelette, dosa (indian pancake-type things), toast and tea/coffee was ordered, and promptly wolfed down before we met our driver for our first day's excitement.
A 2 and a half hour drive brought us to Ajanta and the set of Buddhist caves there. These caves were unlike anything I've ever seen before. Phil stated that someone had written that they should more properly be called 'rock-carved cathedrals' than 'cave temples', and I could see how that thought would come about. Built into the side of a mountain
There was one restaurant on site, and by the time we'd finished, we were starving, despite the numerous snack stops. We ordered what pretty much became standard for the trip - a mixture of rice, noodles, a couple of curry dishes and lots of bread, with sweet lime soda for most of us, a coke for Steph and a pineapple juice for Jessica, and sat impatiently waiting for the food to arrive. Unfortunately, it took a long time to arrive, when it did arrive it was cold, and then we had to wait another 5 minutes for our plates to arrive so we could actually tuck in. And the lime sodas were weirdly not fizzy and decidedly fluffy tasting. Disappointing. We did our best, but it wasn't the greatest end to that part of the day, and we were all a bit flat as we got back on the bus which would return us to the carpark and our waiting driver.
The day wasn't over yet. We wanted to go and see 'Bibi-Ka-Maqbara'; also known as the 'Poor Man's Taj'. It is a much tinier (and cheaper) version of the Taj Mahal, but still a pretty sight, and we timed it perfectly to be there at sunset, so got some good photographs. I have to admit to being slightly underwhelmed, having seen the 'real thing', but it was nice to imagine how impressed Jessica would be in a few days when she, too, got to see the bigger, grander version!
After this, we decided to rely on the good old Lonely Planet guide, which Bron had thoughtfully brought with her, to find a restaurant for dinner. This was done in the hope that it'd be a definite improvement on lunch; we didn't want to risk just choosing some random place, but wanted a recommendation. We chose a hotel restaurant which was described as having 'epic fruit juices' which made Jess and Steph in particular very happy. It was a good choice. The restaurant was open air, clean and friendly. The food was tasty, plentiful, and hot. The lime sodas were fizzy. It was heaven! We spent a lovely time there reviving, chatting, laughing, making plans for the next day, and then decided that when we got back to the hotel, we'd pop across the road for a mysterious chocolate drink named a 'cad-b', which Christa had introduced Em and Bron to back in Pune, and they'd been going on about ever since! Then we all returned to the hotel, and after a bit of a chat all fell into bed ready for what the next day would bring.
The Lonely Planet states that, if you only have one day for cave temple exploration, you should pick Ellora over Ajanta. Having enjoyed and been so impressed by the caves at Ajanta, we were therefore intrigued by the prospect of Ellora being even more amazing. Ellora is a lot closer to Aurangabad than Ajanta, and so we were there before the hottest part of the day began, which was nice. And we were not disappointed in our expectations. Right at the centre of the complex is the Kailasa Temple. It's huge and impressive and words cannot describe it. I'm not even sure that photographs do it justice.
We went up the numbers (Kailasa is 16) so that we could see the hindu and jain temples; the lower numbers were Buddhist ones and we figured we'd leave them until last incase we ran out of time, as all the Ajanta caves had been buddhist in design. The temples here were a bit more spaced out than at Ajanta, and so we wandered freely at our own pace between them, investigating inside some, content to just rest outside others.
We made 'friends' with a lot of Indian tourists who were keen to take our photographs; Em started to collect photos of them in return! As we reached the last 5 caves; the Jain temples which were a half mile walk further up the hill; we decided that perhaps we were infact a little caved-out, and wouldn't bother walking all the way back to see the first 15 caves. So we called our driver to pick us up, and requested that he find us somewhere for lunch before continuing our journey. He stopped at a hotel just down the road, which by happy coincidence was also in the LP, and so we happily settled there and had some good food. A large group of older japanese tourists was also there, and they had a buffet laid out, with a guide explaining all the food to them. It was amusing, because I realised that must be what we seem like to all the Indian diners when we take large groups out to a restaurant and do lots of explanations and mass orders.
Feeling refreshed once again, it was back in the car to another amazing destination - Daulatabad fort. We'd driven past this on the way to the caves, and stared up at the seemingly tiny building on top of a huge hill in wonder. The plan had always been to stop here, and the guide book warned us that it took about an hour to climb, but that seemed like an impossible achievement as we gazed upwards.
There was a car park next to the entrance, so we weaved our way around stalls and hawkers, and made our way to the ticket booth and the entrance. There was a long, wide path sloping slightly upwards, with a tall orange tower and lots of steps visible in the distance.
Having managed this, we were confronted with even more steps, and lots of monkeys too. The monkeys generally weren't a problem, but at one point, a few started on some... 'monkey business' shall we say, right next to where we'd stopped for a breather, and there were a couple of tense seconds as we worked our way past them! Reaching the top was wonderful. It gave a real sense of achievement to be able to sit in windows of the building at the top, and look out over the desert and mountains of the Deccan Plateau.
We had one more stop to make before heading back to Pune; a handweaving factory. We were shown how people weave saris and scarves by hand, making such beautiful, intricate patterns.
Phew! Holiday one. In a very short summary. It was a really awesome trip. We took ipod speakers and sang random songs at the top of our voices, ate loads of snacks, talked and laughed and saw amazing sites, and got a lot of exercise in the process! It was a really, really awesome weekend, and I'm very glad that we all miraculously had the same days off so that we were able to do it :)
TTFN
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave me a message if you'd like to comment, ask questions or just say hi! Thanks x