As soon as you get off the train you can tell its a tourist town; about five people harassed us to come with them to some hotel. One even followed us down the road in his auto rickshaw, nagging us to come with him. We couldn't get rid of him. He followed us all the way into the foyer of the hotel.
This hotel isn't half bad. The floors are made of marble, the windows have mosquito netting and there's a pool table in the decent enough restaurant. The downfall is that the power keeps switching on and off; although it seems to be a common part of Indian life, it's extremely regular and irritating at this joint.
We went to the Bibi-Qa-Maqbara, known as the mini-Taj just out of town. The ruler who had the original Taj Mahal built was killed by his son, Aurangzeb on account of his extravagance, a fair enough claim. Aurangzeb then went on to build the mini-Taj at Aurangabad to serve as the resting place of his beloved and quite dead wife. The mini-Taj might not have anything on the real thing, but it sure did cost a load and a half to build. Unfortunately, Aurangzeb's son didn't do his father a favour by killing him.
Slept like a baby that night. I think I might finally be over the jet lag.
Today we rose and went by public bus to the Ellora caves, situated about 35km out of Aurangabad. They're a world heritage listed site comprised of thirty four temples cut into the rock of a mountain. Staggering to see. They were made by Buddists, Hindu and Jain over four hundred years. Most of the temples are much the same; all of the religions having their own subtle style. The most amazing of the temples, and the only one I'm going to bore you with, is the main Hindi temple. It took over one hundred and fifty years to build and was made by removing the unwanted rock from the mountain. This makes it a single piece of stone and the largest monolithic structure in the world; another achievement I can tick off my list.
Our ride home was a a joke. A jeep driver with a full jeep was offering us a drive to Aurangabad for only a wee bit more than the bus. Besides which, it saved us the wait. We got into the jeep and off we went. The guy drove about five minutes in the wrong direction to drop off all the people in the jeep at some other country town. He then drove around slowly in the streets of the town advertising a trip to Aurangabad. It was infuriating and after about a half hour of this we bailed on him, leaping out at a bus stop. He exploded and insisted we get back in.
I think not little man, I think not.
Anyway, all the other people at the bus stop gave him a funny (nasty really) look and I threw some pocket change at him and he stormed off to his now empty jeep. Should have just taken us.
The bus turned up after about a minute. Everyone at the bus stop was helpful and friendly. Once on the bus, people moved over to let Kate sit down. Nice as.
The thing is that if they can make money from you then they will do anything. Nothing seems to unreasonable. If they can't make money then you get to see some of the true 'Indian spirit' if you'll have it. Everyone on the buses and train are friendly. They move over to let you sit down and give you advice and directions. They always smile and waggle their heads and will try to make conversation if they speak any English. I would much rather catch their public transport than a taxi or auto rickshaw.
Tomorrow is the Dulghabad Fort, a city that was built by an arguably insane Emperor who decided to move the capital of India from Delhi. He wanted to move it south so he could better protect his lands from invaders. He force marched the entire population of Delhi 1100km south to Dulghabad. Tragic idea I must say.
Anyway, more on that some other time after we've actually been there.
Nicholas&Katey.
Main Hindi temple.
Most impressive Jain temple. This photo shows the adornments on the top of the shrine in the courtyard. Its amazing how well this shrine has weathered. A lot of the others are shadows of their former selves.
By far the best Buddhist temple. The roof was carved to look like wooden supports.
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