Blogs from Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India, Asia - page 5

hi all. after some fears about the comfort of our train journey, we were plesently suprised to find that the people we had book our tour with had put us in the top class! we were in air conditioned heaven! we had our own bed and pillows and sheets, a lot different to the wooden chair i had imagined! the journey went smoothly and the 20 hours seemed to fly by! we arrive in aurangabad at 12 the next day and after being kissed and being forced to kiss (on the hand by the way!) by some random indian drink seller, we made our way to our hostel. the first thing i noticed about being further south was that it was a lot cooler. there is a nice breeze here and the sun is not as ... read more

Since I have been eager to visit forts, ancient ruins and fort-like places, I could not remain in the guest house today. Visiting Daulatabad was not even a pre-planned trip, therefore we had to catch a local bus to Daulatabad. A couple of guys suggested that we should take a horse-cart but we felt that it was not a safe mode of transport here. The bus fare is much cheaper than a ride on a horse-cart. We get into an empty bus which left only taking a lot more passengers. After an hour bus journey, we were dropped by the fort gate. We spent inside the fort almost three to four hours. We finally felt that we were tired of forts and fort-like places so we went to catch a bus back to the guest house. ... read more

Aurangabad More than 2000 years ago, when Buddhism was the prominent religion in India, pilgrims traveling across the sub continent and monks engaged in their ascetic lifestyle, began digging into the cliffs towering over the Waghora River near present day Aurangabad, India. Although today we call their excavations ‘caves’, that word is an incredible misnomer. These prayer halls (chaitya grihas) and monasteries (viharas) are incredible architectural accomplishments, all created by digging into the hard rock of the cliff walls. The details of the carvings, the statues, the altars are all incredible. Then you look more closely and realize that all of these incredible rock cuttings also used to be covered in brilliantly painted murals! These are the Ajanta Caves. The first constructions began about 200 BC during the austere Hinayana Buddhist period. At t... read more

Travellers use the city of Aurangabad as a base for exploring the nearby caves of Ellora and Ajanta, we followed suit. We made our first balls-up of the whole journey so far, missing a train by over half an hour. The coolest thing though was despite us being at fault we still were able to cancel our ticket after the train had left and claimed a refund of 50% - imagine that happening in the UK, I don't think Messrs Branson & Co would agree to that!! Our balls up actually did us a favour as we were able to take an overnighter instead and so didn't lose a day travelling in the heat. We were met off the train from Hyderabad at the crack of dawn by Mustafa, a friendly guide who did the pick-up ... read more

Hello from India, I have been in India for about 2 weeks now. So far, it has been increadible. My introduction to India was in the backpacker district near Old Delhi. This area is near the very center of Delhi, the roads are at the most, only wide enough for 2 tuk-tuk's (about 1.5 cars). They are lined with shops selling everything you could need and most things you don't. The roads are always crouded with people, bicycles, carts, wagons, dogs, and every 20 feet or so, a cow. Being miles from any grass, the cows appear to be fed carrots, and luckily they are very tame. Because this area is crouded with backpackers, everyone on the street tries to sell something. If you stop, they will croud around you trying to sell you their ... read more