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Published: March 15th 2007
A new day and a new city! We get up early before 7:00am and head for our included breakfast, a far cry from the Sheraton, but better than horrible.
We go back to our room to decide how to tackle our day. Our cab driver from last night had given us his business card that offered tours and drivers. We were about to call him when the phone rang, like any good salesman, he beat us to the punch. We agreed on a fixed rate of 500 rupees about $14 CAD to have a driver in an air-conditioned car all day.
Our first stop was the 17th century aqueduct called Panchakki. Water pumped from a reservoir in the hills 6 km away collects in a square pool filled with Kohl fish.
Then it was off to the university. The land is thirsty for the monsoons, arid and dry the landscape reminds us of Africa. The university sprawls for kilometers with all the different faculties and student lodging. On the roads, bulls and goats walk alongside students. Dusty and dry the modest buildings peer through brush and trees that look like African Acacia’s. We finally see lush green and
beautiful flowers, the botanical gardens. We drive into a road and park at the Dept. of Archeology to visit a small museum. The grounds are doted with goats and a few of their keepers. We wander through the gates to the museum entrance. There are high relief sculptures of Hindu gods from as early as the 12th century, some beautiful wood screens and a few paintings.
We drive on to Aurangabad caves; in the heat we are not happy about the stairs (Indian Stairmaster) we must climb to view the caves. The caves are beautiful all high relief sculpture with Buddha’s sitting in the shadows - these are Buddhist caves.
The view from the caves is vast; we can see the Bibi-ka Maqbara the mini Taj Mahal that we just visited. It was built in 1678, was dedicated by Prince Azam Shah to the memory of his mother Begum Rabi’a Daurani, Aurangzeb’s wife.
After the caves it was onto the old city bizarre. Skinny streets of shops and locals teeming with rickshaws, motorbikes and cars narrowly navigate their way by. The people here are fascinated by us. Children stop us on the street to say “hello”, a
man takes my picture with his cell phone camera…I offer a smile and then take his picture. Every time I flash my teeth at someone, I get a wide smile followed by a giggle. The curiosity is awe inspiring, everywhere we turn a “hello” or a smile. I am beginning to feel my heart swell. Even with the distraction of almost being run over every few seconds it is hard not to feel gratitude and joy.
Aurangabad has a different feeling; predominantly a mixture of Hindu and Muslim there is more of a middle eastern flare than that of Mumbai.
Here are some photos of the amazing day.
Ashram, ready or not here we come, off to Nasik tomorrow.
Unsure how much Internet access we will have after the 15th, please forgive any mistakes as these entries are rushed.
Thank you so much for your comments; it is great to hear from you!
Lots of love,
Sara
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Sara Marie
non-member comment
Looks Amazing!
It sounds like a fabulous trip so far!!! The mini Taj Mahal is still quite big...imagine the real one!!! it must be huge!!!! Have fun at the Ashram.....I can't wait to hear about it. Love you!