Aurangabad - Cave Men

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We arrived in Aurangabad after a 1600km train journey which took a mammoth 20 hours on 3 sleeper beds and on a very rocky train. However, to make the journey much easier we were thankful to watch an hour long lightening show were the sky filled with a deep purple colour every 2 seconds, extremely amazing.

After wondering around to get a feel for Aurangabad and meeting the sweetest auto-rickshaw driver, Ashok, we thought we'd visit the 'Empire Circus' on the night. It was a spectacular acrobatic opening that soon declined when they made very sad looking dogs and elephants do tricks. Soon after it started to bucket down and when the tent began to leak we did a runner back to the hotel.

Seeing the Ajanta caves was something we were both looking forward to. The Buddhist Caves of Ajanta date from around 200BC to AD 650. The caves were abandoned and forgotten about until 1819 until a British hunting party stumbled upon them. It consists of around 30 caves with each cave being slightly or hugely different, in regards to the size, the paintings and the stone Buddha strutures within them. The caves form a horseshoe shape with spectular views and a stream meandering through. The caves were stunning and an experience we'll never forget, its just a shame that some of the caves are not as well preserved as others.

We visited the Ellora caves, although they are amazing in their own right they didn't have the intricate paintings of the Ajanta Caves. They almost appeared unfinished and each cave was reminisant of the last. On the way back Bec C had an uncontrollable urge to use the toilet, and was consequently her first experience of the squat toilet...life will never be the same again!!!!

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Comments

[clare]

who ate all the pies!!

[Lynda]

I hope you're bringing some cake home!! I've just logged on after being without the net for over a week so I'm catching up! You look like you're having fun.