Aurangabad Stopover

Well, fortune has smiled on me yet again. Thanks to the renowned inefficiency of the Indian rail network, I didn’t miss my stop!
The journey from Hyderabad to Aurangabad involves you waking up at 3:45am or thereabouts so that you don’t miss your stop at 4:05am. I set 2 alarms as I usually do, but they simply didn’t go off…..either of them, which left me feeling well miffed when I woke up and realised that it was 5:10am and I was well and truly up the proverbial creek without a paddle.
The train was due to stop at its final stop around 6:15am anyway, so I consoled myself to the fact that I would simply have to get off there and get the train back again! Ohh joy!!!
But, at 6am, the train pulls in to Aurangabad almost 2 hours late and for once something has finally worked in my favour, mind you, I will pay for it, just watch this space!
Walking from the train station I bumped into Ashok T Kadam of Lonely Planet fame.
This guy has temporarily restored my faith in Rickshaw drivers, being as he doesn’t try to fleece you like most of the others do. Ashok has certainly moved on in the world having expanded his empire, now having his own Travel Agents near the Panchavati Hotel which he runs with the help of his son.

Aurangabad is a small town by Indian standards that is usually used as a base by tourists to travel to Ellora Caves and sometimes Ajanta, both of which are well known and well visited World Heritage Sites.
That said, even the town itself has quite a bit to offer in the form of its own caves, a mini version of the Taj Mahal, known more correctly as Bibi-qa-Maqbara and the Pancchakki Water Wheel, which really should be visited after the monsoon when there is plenty of water about.

Bibi-qa-Maqbara was built by the Shah Jahan’s son Aurangzeb around 25 years after the Taj Mahal itself was completed. Like the Taj, this was also built as a declaration of love to Aurangzebs wife Rabia-ud-Daurani who is entombed here.
This tomb unfortunately gets labelled as the “little Taj” and the “Poor mans Taj” so in that respect, im glad I came here first instead of doing them the other way round as I found this place mightily impressive to say the least.
Around 10km from Aurangabad is Daultabad Fort. This fort sits on a hill overlooking the valley from a height of around 650ft or 200m. The outer walls are huge, surrounding the entire complex. The Fort is also protected by all kinds of inventive defensive methods, from a 40ft deep moat to Anti Elephant spikes on the outer doors. It is quite a climb to the top although it is well worth it, if simply for the fantastic views. One way up will take you through a pitch black tunnel, again, used as a form of defence.
Several cannon remain, one in particular is very impressive and bears the name of the builder of Bibi-qa-Maqbara, Aurangzeb.
So, the next step is to take a bus to Jalgaon which I will use as a base to visit Ellora (God not more temples!!!) and we will see where we go from there………

---

---