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We awoke to catch the 7:45 rickshaw to the bus station. Our goal for the day was to get to the Ajunta caves and then spend the night in Aurungabad. Our trip began well, with our very helpful hotel manager getting us a rickshaw for us and our gear to the bus station. Once we arrrived there we were accosted by a tout who took us over to a share jeep. Now this was the first time we had seen a share jeep before, so we were quite hesitant. Share jeeps are basically jeeps that fill up with people and then head off to another city, picking up people and dropping people off along the way. It was pretty sketchy, and I finally convinced Nabil that we should give it a try. With that we were off and got a nice ride to Ajunta t-junction. There was some yelling at the driver to stop, but overall it was a good way to travel.
Once we arrived in Ajunta we were again accosted by shopkeepers, though these ones were very friendly and helped us get around the base station, find tickets, and get to the caves.
We dropped our packs
at a bag storage area and then we went up to the caves. The very very short walk up made both Nabil and I quickly tired, though neither of us could explain why. We wandered a bit before ultimately deciding that we should get a guide, which was in the end a good idea. He told us all kinds of stuff about the old paintings and explained the Buddhist stories. Some of the most interesting things were their style of dress - miniskirts, Bermuda shorts, and checkered shirts, ideas that wouldnt take off for many centuries.
After visiting the beutiful caves, we hiked up to a viewpoint that affords you a view of the whole cave complex, and without the constant abuse of touts would have really enjoyed the view. The sky was quickly darkening and foretelling rain to come. We rapidly descended the hill and ran onto the bus just as very hard rain began. The 4 km ride to the t-junction was a damp one, but didnt take long. We huddled in their restaurant for a while to wait for the rains to abate and had our daily Thali lunch. Our friend Eric the shopkeeper came by
to help and took us over to his shop. I bought some gems, and eventually wound up spending loads more than I planned.
We then took a bus to Aurungabad which took 2 hours, and conveniently the weather was cool since the bus didnt have AC. Because we got a ride back on a tour bus, we were able to get dropped off near the railway station. We went to our hotels restaurant for dinner - they were quite insistent - and watched the game. There were three foreigner groups there, me and Nabil, a British guy with a girl, and two Irish guys. The British couple? were very snooty and standoffish, though I went to go talk to the Irish guys after the game. They were very friendly and we ended up talking with them for a while. Both are alcoholic chain-smokers, but then how many Irish arent ( Just joking everyone)? We spent the next day in their company.
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