Asia 2006: Random Bozo goes to Maharashtra

Original diary entry

very bumpy bus to Ajanta caves ... straw hut in fields ... rained last night ... villages/newspaper (no idea what I meant by this) ... urea distribution centre ... wheat-growing, green and lush, many trees ... pass through Shillod, a big market town ... fields of sunflowers ... RAIN! ... caves so beautiful I could cry ... squirrels, then floor alive with ants picking up my crumbs

Take 2

Having been told by the hotel boss that a bus journey to Ajanta (north by north-east of Aurangabad - see map) would take 4 hours each way, involving lots of stops, I'm still glad I saved the Rs1500 (over £20) for the taxi-tour he offered. The bus cost Rs69 rupees each way, then a tour bus to the amenity site cost R6s, entry to the amenities (toilets and a lot of hexagonal concrete stalls for souvenir-vendors) cost Rs5 and entry to the actual caves cost Rs250. Just as I bought my entry to the caves, the heavens opened and I sheltered at the ticket office for about ten minutes.

There was a lot of pressure to hire services: For example, one guy kept on at me for 10 minutes, insisting I should hire him to carry my shoes (since you need to take them off to go into each cave). When he finally got the message that when I said No, I meant it, he then asked for a hand-out, presumably for being so good at annoying.

Again, just as Hans and I were about to leave, the heavens opened again. During this, we were subjected to the most intense sales pressure yet. One stall-holder insisted his carved souvenirs were unique when the same carvings were available at the next stall! I pointed this out and he said that he had meant that I wouldn't be able to buy them at any other place in India. I already knew this too was incorrect. Because I was sheltering under his stall from the rain, I didn't have the nerve to say to tell him to shove his sales technique up his arse.

Having said that, the caves themselves were superb - I hope my photos will do them justice. It was also interesting to see a wee boy in ear-rings. His parents like him to to decorated but will take them out when he goes to school. (I'm sure he was a boy: his dad's english was fine and I saw the boy being changed after an 'accident'.)