A Cave Hunting We Will Go

Monday 5 January 2009 Pune, India - Aurangabad, India
Vijaya had amazing organized a trip to Aurangabad for us so we could visit Ellora and Ajanta Caves. The 5 of us all went together in a Landcruiser with a driver, Karishma and I in the back on the jump seats. The drive took about 5 hours, and a little bumpy but the driver was brilliant. The traffic in India is extremely dodgey with next to no road rules, and no seatbelts. Combine that with cattle frequently crossing the road, along with potholes the size of a well and you certainly want to hand over the driving to someone a little more experienced. We stopped along the way at a road stop for breakfast, and we noticed the lights were out, this means that there is no toast. No electricity, means no toaster, but gas is still working ok, so some scrambled eggs are okay. Another 2 hours down the road and we were in Aurangabad and checked into a hotel before heading out to Ellora Caves.

The Ellora Caves would have to be one of the most magnificent demonstrations of converting natural beauty into amazing architecture we have seen so far on our travels. This is like a stone canyon with temples carved within it 3 stories high. Our time spent at Ellora was with our mouths open along with our eyes in absolute awe of this place. Within the temples are followings of Buddhism, Hinduism, and Jain with Gods and Phophets. Big exhale ... just brilliant.

Next stop was Bibi Ka Maqbara which is known locally as Mini Taj, built by Prince Azam Shah in tribute to his mother who is buried within the temple. This temple is a half size scale of the Taj Mahal and even though we couldn't get to the real Taj this was a pretty good comprimise, with a mixture of marble and plaster. It even has a reflection pool similar to the Taj. It would have been wonderful to get to Delhi to see the real Taj but with situation in India at the moment we were advised not to go.

Next stop was Panchakki, which is also known as the water mill. It is an intricate web of underground water systems stemming from the mountain to generate power to move a mill to grind grain into flower. Absolute genius for its time being built in 1695.