Wednesday April 10 & 11
N loves caves. I
am not so much a fan of small dark spaces but I indulge him by trekking into
caves and old forts and he indulges me by only going to half as many as he
would choose. And that is why we
made the 8hr train journey over to Aurangabad to see the World Heritage Site,
the Ellora Caves.
They are actually quite a bit more impressive that I had
expected. I really enjoyed the
trip. Which was quite a pleasant
surprise. I was picturing dark,
dingy, smelly, urine and bat filled crags in and escarpment. As it was so far off the beaten track I
anticipated a lot of hassle getting transportation and eatable food.
The nightmare I had created in my mind couldn’t have been
further from the reality. The
caves had plenty of natural light and beautiful sculptures. In many ways I felt more like it was a
day at the art gallery (which is my kind of day!) than one spent hiking through
caves. I don’t feel like caves is
a very good description of them but that is what they are called. They are not
natural caves rather religious shrines cut into the rock face. They are similar to the Elephanta Caves
we visited in Mumbai but far more extensive and impressive. There are 34 caves total. Caves 1-12
are Buddhist (AD 600-800), 17-29 are Hindu (AD 600-900) and 30-34 are Jain (AD
800-1000).
The Hindu caves were by far the best in my opinion. They had the most detailed carves and
interesting designs as a whole. I won’t got into too much detail about them
because they are really the kind of thing you just have to see to be impressed
by. Photos and descriptions do
them little justice.
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| Ellora Caves - Buddhist Section Cave 10 |
So I admired the incredible art work camera in hand. While N had a fabulous day running up
every long flight of stairs and climbing up or over everything. It was worth the trip fore sure. Although from the photos I’ve seen it
would be worth going in the wet season when you can see the waterfalls. The dry arid desert like appearance
here was a stark contrast to what we had been enjoying in the south.
Thursday April 12
Our trip to Mumbai was our last train journey in India. I must admit I am glad. Even though I have gotten used to the
trains and don’t find them to be so bad any more it is not a restful journey
and I am just ready to be finished with constant travel for a little while
now. These are our final two days
in India. It has not sunk in
yet. I am not feeling overly
sentimental as the last few days have been riddled with irritating travel experiences;
including a crow relieving himself on me, this morning.
I don’t think the experience of transitioning back into our
“normal” lives at home is going to be easy and I am not overly looking forward
to that but I am looking forward to ease of our own country and culture. There is something so comforting about
the familiar.
N and I have spent the large majority of our first year of
marriage abroad, with only four brief months in our own city. They were by far the most difficult
months we have had together. Even
though we will have our first wedding anniversary shortly after we return I
think it is going to feel like the beginning for us all over again as we try
and figure out how we do things day to day in the same city every day.
For now though we are in busy Mumbai and should leave the
sanctuary of this McDonalds to go out and enjoy our last days in this country,
now that everything is open and alive.
We arrived in the wee hours of the morning (5am) and our hotel won’t
take us in until noon. After
wandering the empty streets of the city for a few hours we found the familiar
golden arches always welcoming customers earlier and later than anyone
else. It’s pretty sad when
McDonalds and Coca Cola are the things you can count on in life but the sad
truth is for the weary traveler, we are, they truly are.
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