And the temple builder; he kept on carving...

Aurangabad is a village that has grown into a city which cannot yet decide if it wants to be a village or a city. The roads are incredibly bad (I now have this image of the "wegdek" bus journey from Jaisalmer to Ajmer); the traffic is just as chaotic and messy as anywhere else, but there are also more luxurious shops, more rich Indians and quite a few more private cars. One does not visit Aurangabad to see Aurangabad, but to see the world famous caves of Ellora and Ajanta. So was I.

The Ellora caves

After I had got off the train at 4:30am and had a lovely bit of extra sleep at the station until 7:30am, I started organising things (hotel, train tickets, breakfast) and afterwards I got on the coach to the Ellora caves. Most special of all is the Kailasa cave (number 16). This is cave is enormous; and it was carved out of one piece of rock (from top to bottom). It is very impressive. It is really hard to imagine that people have done all this work with just one little hammer and chisel.

It may explain why Indians are so fond of everything that involves hammers and hitting. Has your car broken down? Take a hammer and bang on it! What is the most popular musical instrument? Yes, indeed - a drum kit. What do they do with dogs, apes and all other unholy animals that roam the streets freely? Just hit them with a stick. The metal industry is forever blossoming over here. I think it is due to the fact that people like to hit and hammer. Oh well, I'd better stop this little interruption.

The caves also have many paintings, but these have almost faded. It's a big shame. However, I think India has finally come to understand that there is something like cultural heritage. With might and main, people are working on refurbishments (I really brace myself when I hear someone hammer in a cave or when I notice a sign saying, 'Watch out; chemical conservation process'). The donations come from the World Heritage Fund and tourists. The locals pay 10 rupees per person; people like me pay... 250 rupees. There have to be some differences, haven't there? And then to think that the government has lowered the admission prices by 50% since 1st October, for entry to the Tah Mahal (Agra) used to be 20 USD and now it is only 10 USD. I wonder what will be the result.

The Ajanta caves

The Ellora caves are situated at a 'local bus distance' (30 kilometres) from Aurangebad, but as Ajanta is much further away (at a distance of 120 kilometres) it seemed impossible to reach this by coach. So, I went to the local tourist information office and booked a luxurious tour. In a posh jeep (I was allowed to sit at the front, in spite of the fact I had taken a shower) and with 5 other fellow countrymen I crossed the highway (World Heritage Fund sponsoring?) to Ajanta at a high speed. I really enjoyed it. While we had to keep sellers of all sorts at a distance, we explored the caves with the help of a professional guide. It is really incredibly beautiful! I personally find these caves more beautiful than those of Ellora, but that is probably because they have been better preserved (the Ajanta caves were only discovered in 1817, while the Ellora caves had been known long before). These temples have been carved from rocks. The paintings on the walls are very artistic and it appears that a century or two B.C. and some seven centuries later a high form of civilisation had been established here. You can also see figures like the [meander] returning. There are also images which closely resemble Japanese sumo wrestlers. The world was already very small then!

After two days of having been dipped into culture from head to toe, it is high time for... THE BEACH!!!!

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