anyway, we woke up, wash up and decided to head out to the streets to walk around before meeting Ka Wei and Shu Hui at 8.15am to take breakfast at the hotel. I'm really surprised that businesses and shops do not open early in Aurangabad (it was later then i know that things only start happening around 9am-10.30am). So basically the streets are still light with traffic and not bustling with people. But u can see people walking along the streets trying to catch the bus to their place of work. we walked to the road that was beside the Big Bazaar Shopping center and we saw goats and cows eating in the rubbish. People digging around the rubbish. and when i tried to take a photo from far of the people sifting through the rubbish, a lady caught me in the act and stretched out her hands wanting to ask me for money. we just quickly take the photo and walked back to our hotel. by then it was around 8.15am. so we had our breakfast at the hotel's restaurant.
People digging around the rubbish
Our driver was really punctual. He arrived 5min before 9am. and our 1st place that we're heading to is Ellora Caves! Yay! another UNESCO heritage site. Its the 2nd main icon of Aurangabad. Ellora Caves are nearer to the city of Aurangabad as compared to Ajanta caves. and its more accessible as compared to Ajanta Caves. n our way to the caves, we went pass lots of military land.
finally we reached Ellora caves. Similar to Ajanta caves, we had to pay
250 per person for the entrance fee... hmmmm.... the indians really know how to make money from foreigners. coz the locals and people from Buddhist countries like thailand, nepal, Bhutan, cambodia etc. they only need to pay 10!!!! i hope they really use these money into good use for restoration works... but i think its juz fat hope of mine... coz most of the money goes into the indians pockets. yeah... u can say that its a pretty corrupted country.
Entrance of Cave 16
anyway I must say that Ellora Caves are equally beautiful. I think they are more beautiful as compared to Ajanta caves. Probably they are slightly 'newer' as compared to Ajanta caves. The caves were built in 600-800 A.D. for the Buddhist caves, 600-900 A.D. for the Hindu caves, 800-1000 A.D. for the Jain caves. There are altogether 34 caves in Ellora. When we reached, we were at the entrance of the largest and the most majestic caves in the whole of Ellora, that is Cave 16. and throughout today, we were really being treated and looked upon as movie stars!!! hahaha... as u read along and see the pictures, u'll understand why.we were taking photos of the entrance of Cave 16 and a family came and approached us to take photo. later on, they even presented the group photo to us! i was totally caught by surprise! I mean they don't need to do that.
Group photo with the Indian family in front of Cave 16
and everywhere we went, when the indians see us, they said 'Hello' or smile at us, or kept looking at us or ask us where we're from. Pretty friendly people!Anyway, coming back to Cave 16, this is the grandest and most awesome Khailasa Temple and also the world's largest monolithic sculpture that was sculpt from top to bottom in rock by 7000 labourers for a period of 150 years! This temple was dedicated to the Lord Shiva and also represent the decline of Buddhism but the rise of Hinduism. (coz Caves 1-12 are Buddhist caves, Caves 13-29 are Hindu Caves, Caves 30-34 are Jain Caves) This cave is the most majestic of all as the carvings depict scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the adventures of Krishna.
Courtyard of Cave 16
This is the main structure in the middle of the cave
Me and and Indian girl
one of the towers in the cave
with some indian girls
Walking in the cave is juz totally an amazing experience. U gotta be there to understand the feeling... and to think and ponder how in the world did those people manage to do such a grand scale thing in the ancient times!
that's the main area of the cave
kids staring at us from the top of the temple
After walking around Cave 16 and being stopped by numerous people to take photos, we went to explore cave 15-1. and as we walked and enter each cave.... u'll be able to smell the stench of urine. yeah... it can pissed u off at times... coz most of these caves are the homes of the bats. but its a relieve that these other caves do not have as many visitors as compared to cave 16, hence, u wouldn't constantly be asked questions or hounded by people to take photos. not to say that its not good... but after sometime... it can be a little irritating.... hahaha.. partly also because of the heat... we get irritated pretty easily. and we're sweating like buckets... never in my life did sweat so much juz by walking... and we're drinking water in the liters.
Looking down from Cave 15
A dancing Shiva
Row of Buddha statues in mediation position in 3rd storey of cave 12
entrance of 1 of the caves (could be cave 10)
Large Buddha statue in the middle of cave 10
Caves 1-6
after we finished caves 15-1, we headed back to the car, wanting to tell the driver to head to another site on our itinary (either the poor man's taj or daulatabad fort) but he told us that he was going to drive us to cave 31-34! hahaha... we were surprised.... coz juz before that we were saying that it was a pity that we could not visit the Jain caves... as it was too far away....
that's how dry and brown the surrounding is
In front of Jain Cave 32
Me and 2 little botak boys (really like this picture a lot)
I must say that the Jain caves are somewhat different as compared to the Hindu and Buddhist caves. In fact we only visit Cave 32. Coz that is the grandest Jain cave compared to the rest.
Picture perfect
look up!!!
Jain caves are beautifully decorated. the temple in the cave comprise of 2 levels. 1st level is pretty plain... but the 2nd level had a lot of detailed carvings. we did not dwell long there... coz there were too many people and Shu Hui's foot was hurting so after a short while we left the place.
Climbing to and from the 2nd level
Sculptures on 2nd level
the next place we headed was to a Himroo outlet. Aurangabad is famous for its Himroo. Himroo is a kind of material that is handwoven using cotton, silk and silver threads. We just walked around the shop and left. Coz we were not interested in buying these stuffs... they are too expensive... and we don't wear saris. =P
On to Aurangazeb Alamgeer's Tomb we went. hahaha.... we also did not know that visiting the mosque and tomb of this Emperor was in our city sights itinerary.
Tomb of Aurangazeb Alamegeer
Anyway, this Emperor was one of the last Mughal greats. Aurangzeb was an ascetic in his personal life and insisted that he was to be buried in a simple tomb constructed only with the money he had mad from sewing Muslim skullcaps. And that is the reason why his tomb was in a mosque.
Men sitting around in the mosque
Boy washing up
The next place we headed was Daulatabad Fort. Entrance fee is
100 per person. This fort is an ancient ruined site that one must visit when one is in Aurangabad. It was constructed in the 12the Century by Yadava kings. in the past, 1 of the Sultans, Mohammed Tughlaq even decided to shift his kingdon's capital from Delhi to Daulatabad.
People surrounding the ice vendor buying sweetened shaved ices
Daulatabad Fort
Entrance of Daulatabad Fort
Cannons used in the past
We walked in the compounds and saw some ancient cannons on display. And in the middle of the premises was a red 60m tall tower that u will not miss when u're there. This is the tower of victory, Chand Minar.
Red tower in the back
Group photo with an indian family
Red Tower
we did not bother to climb the hill... coz it was too hot and we were a little tired. hahaha... so walking on ground level was sufficient for us.
Road that goes up the hill. we were happy just to see it and take pictures of it!! =P
after that it was back to the car and we headed to Bibi-Qa-Maqbara. This is also known as the 'Poor Man's Taj'. Bibi-Qa-Maqbara was built by Aurangzeb's son in 1679. Its a mausoleum for his mother. As mentioned it is also known as the 'Poor Man's Taj' as it bears a striking resemblance to the actual Taj Mahal in Agra.
Bibi-Qa-Maqbara
However, this is not as grand as the real Taj Mahal. hahaha... u can say that seeing this, I was compensated.When we reached there, the skies were overcast and droplets of rain started to fall! pretty surprised coz now was not supposed to have any rain. with the rain also came huge blasts of wind. and the wind was so strong that it even stirred and blew the dry sand up. it was not good. coz sand went into our eyes. and we had to put on sun-glasses to protect our eyes. we only emerged from the entrance where we were taking refuge after the winds had stopped. and our cameras again went clicking away. hahaha.... i mean u've got to do that... coz i doubt i will come here again.
Group photo in front of the 'mini Taj'
Kids playing in the waters
A little girl waving to us
similar to the fort and ellora caves.... people approached us wanting to take pictures with us.
'Peeping @ the backyard'
with some indian kids
the backyard of bibi-qa-baqbara
After visiting the grounds of Bibi-qa-maqbara, our driver drove us to see Panchakki. well... this is juz a water wheel. we did not enter the premises... coz entering it requires us to pay again! so we juz loiter outside the attraction sites taking some pictures before getting into the car and head back to town.
A run down gate in the middle of the road just outside of the Panchikki
Father and son looking at the cars passing by the road
Boys playing Cricket
Women doing washing at the longkang banks
the driver drove us to his head office where we had to make payment for our short 3 days (including tomorrow) in Aurangabad. think it cost
3119 per person (hotel +day tours+ airport transfers).after the payment... its to looking for dinner and getting our water + breakfast supplies. coz tomorrow we'll be taking the 0810hrs flight to Mumbai!
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