Follow me to India: October 2009

-So lately I haven’t been good about updating my blog, I have so many wonderful experiences and stories to write about, but to start, here is a post I forgot to put up about our weekend trip (3 weekends ago I think). I’m going to try and get my blog up to speed asap (I hope), so keep checking!

Due to the fact that Monday was the Hindi celebration of Deserra we didn’t have classes and thus enjoyed a nice long weekend. Some people flew to Delhi, others enjoyed a 12hr bus ride to party on the beaches of Goa, three girls stayed in Pune, and the rest of us went to see the famous Ellora and Ajanta caves north of Pune in Aurangabad. 8 of us plus Sonal, an Indian radio DJ and newscaster currently living at the same hostel as some of the girls on the trip, and our patient driver endured the 5.5-hour trip to the caves.

Our weekend was full of interesting curveballs from start to finish, but we, of course, had an amazing time. Lets just say it started out a little rough and well, bumpy. On Friday afternoon after class we all rickshawed from the program center to the girl’s hostel. One of the girls realized five minutes too late that she left her packed bag in the rickshaw, panic ensued. She sprinted back up the hill towards the corner where we were dropped off and continued to run the streets frantically and emotionally searching for a familiar rickshaw. Mind you they all look the same, as a passenger you usually only see the driver’s back, and despite Utarra’s and Prashant’s words of wisdom we failed to record the rickshaw number. We were all quite panicked until we realized that she didn’t have any crucial items in the bag, except for tampons, her retainers, some clothes, and of course, the teddy bear her boyfriend gave her.

After calming down our driver arrived in a van supposedly meant to fit all 9 girls and our bags? 4 of us piled in the back seat and crunched our hips against the door handles while the other 4 girls loaded into the trunk. Yes there are always sideways bench seats in the back of vans here, but of course legroom, headroom, and comfort are all very limited. Before we could start our long journey we had to drive around to three of our host families to pick up our passports seeing as we hadn’t been informed that we might need them at the hotel. Luckily we all lived in opposite areas of Pune so this took us at least two hours to maneuver through traffic. Finally, we ate dinner on FC road before heading out to the expressway.

To the soundtrack of Indian radio we sped, I guess that’s relative they don’t drive that fast here due to the nature of the roads and traffic, but yes, sped to the best of our ability up to Aurangabad. With about two hours to go and a tired driver my watch read 12:13am. We pulled off to the side so the driver could rest his eyes for a few (minutes) get some Cha (tea) to try and energize a wake-up, and to put in a Bollywood movie! Woohoo, singing, dancing, romantic clichés, and head bobbles would of course soothe the nagging of our cricked necks, cramped legs, weary bladders, and sleepy eyes. About two hours later we finally began to descend towards our final destination, Ajanta. We jostled back and forth and up and down in the car as the driver took each hairpin turn with increasing speed. All the while massive ‘Good Carrier’ trucks would slowly appear around the corners, one after another beaming lights and blaring horns at our relatively small vehicle. Lets just say if our hotel hadn’t been at the bottom of the hill the sound of puking might’ve been added to the bumpin Bollywood tune of “it’s time for disco”. Our 2:30am arrival time at the MTDC (Maharashtra Tourism D…C….?) government hotel was met with as much enthusiasm as one could expect from 18 immovable legs and 9 sets of droopy eyes.

The next morning was met with stuffy heat. Although we paid extra for air-conditioning, the electricity at the hotel is turned off from 6:00am to 12:00pm. So, after four hours of deep sleep the heat began to creep into our rooms and torture us for the next few hours. Once awake, bucket-showered, and ready to go, we piled into the car for a 15-minute ride to the Ajanta Caves.

After maneuvering our way through the maze of tourist traps we piled onto an electric bus that took us up to the caves. The buses were electric so that the caves wouldn’t be harmed by the pollution. How cool! While eating breakfast/lunch at the MTDC base restaurant we saw lots of monkeys! At first we thought it was only one hanging out in a nearby tree, then another popped up on the roof of the adjacent building, and before we knew it a whole clan came jumping onto the nearby roof – up from the ground, across from the tree, and behind from who knows where. They all continued to follow each other over the buildings, ultimately leaping 15ft to another tree. While mesmerized by the sudden onslaught of monkeys we witnessed something absolutely terrible! The giant leap they all were making seemed to be dangerously close to some power lines. Dangerously close enough so that we saw one monkey jump right into an open wire, light on fire, sizzle and plummet from the top of the three-story building to the grass below. My heart stopped. Sonal went down by the monkey’s aid along with others who were in the vicinity. She tried to move its injured arm and shift it out of the beating sun. We ate in awestruck silence. Luckily, on our way out of the restaurant we were informed the monkey survived and was able to move by itself!

Finally we climbed up the stone steps, ran into some more crazy monkeys (almost got attacked, lesson learned not to attempt posing with monkeys for pictures). We spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring the 27 caves. They are all rock-cut cave monuments dating from the second century BC and contain Buddhist paintings and sculptures. Every single cave proved to be increasingly more impressive. I had to keep reminding myself that they were carved out of cliffs and painted with nature-based paints derived mostly from the rock itself. The heat was intense, the views were breathtaking, and the caves were inspiring! It was a fantastically exhausting day.

The next morning we ate an early breakfast and set out for the Ellora caves by 9:00am. It took about an hour and a half to get into Aurangabad and reach the caves. We were greeted by the all too familiar faces of eager salesmen knocking on the van’s windows with postcards, jewelry, and stone carved elephants. We were also greeted by the familiar testy creatures from the day before, more MONKEYS! As we waited in line to buy our tickets someone inquired as to whether the monkeys hanging out in the trees above us ever peed on the tourists below. A bunch of us answered with unsure sarcastic remarks like, "maybe, probably not, that would be funny though". Ironically enough, about 30 seconds later I felt some wet drops from above on my shoulder. Yes, monkeys do pee on the tourists, and yes, I was the tourist to receive that a wonderful gift. I expected the caves to be similar to those of the previous day, but they were very different and just as mind blowing. At the Ellora caves there are Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain caves, all of them differing in style, size, and spiritual purpose. The most impressive cave, cave #16, was a massive Hindu cave for the god Shiva. The sheer size of the carvings continued to blow my mind. We ate a quick and not so satisfying lunch at the MTDC restaurant continued our cave wandering for another hour or so then headed into Aurangabad to see the mini Taj Mahal! As my pictures prove, it looks exactly like the real Taj (as far as I could tell), but much smaller, I don’t remember what the scaling is, but it is much smaller. After taking some stellar pictures and posing for some even more entertaining pictures, we regrouped outside the Taj, bought some cheep ice cream checked out some tricked-out Rickshaws (bumpin’ sound systems, leather seats, colored tops, you know, all the works), and headed into the center of Aurangabad for dinner and some exploring.

On the drive through Aurangabad we passed a crazy, crowded, carnival complete with multiple Ferris wheels and snack shacks, and I really wanted to go to, but a bunch of the girls weren’t into it so we kept driving. We had some time before dinner so we walked along the main road for a bit and checked out some small treat shops and soaked in all of the dusty city air. For dinner we went to an amazing restaurant recommended in the guidebook called Tandoor. If you ever find yourself in Aurangabad you must go, make sure to chat with the owner, Hussein, he is a blast! We ordered a plethora of dishes and shared them around the table. It was by far the best meal I’ve had in India thus far! We ordered Chicken Tika, Paneer Masala, DamAloo Kashmiri, Lemon rice, Jirra rice, lotso Roti and Naan, and a few more I can’t remember the names but the spice definitely remains on my lips…yummmm. On our drive home we happened to drive by the carnival again, and my yearning to check it out took over. I made a pretty bold motion to jump out of the car and go, and to my surprise most of the car conceited. It must’ve been the tasty food that put everyone in the mood.

We jumped out of the car into a sea of people, flashing lights, and pungent smells. We all made sure to hold hands as we began to navigate our way through the fair. The premise of a wild carnival most definitely crosses cultural borders. There were circus acts, freak shows, ice cream stalls, quick fried food stations, neon toys for sale, and plenty of familiar carnival rides. There were at least four different Ferris wheels flashing strobe lights and emitting endless screams of fear and excitement. We decided riding one was a must. We pushed our way through line to buy tickets and up the stairs to board the ride. Once we were at the front we realized that this Ferris wheel ride was not going to be at all like those back home. When getting on the ride slows down and stops very briefly, they give you about 30 seconds to jump up and pile into the seats, all the while yelling “go, go, go!” There are no safety apparatuses whatsoever and the ride seemed to be run from below by one man moving a lever. The lever presumably powered the ride while it shot out fiery sparks that increased in intensity in conjunction with the increased speed of the ride. It was a definite adrenaline rush to come over the top of the Ferris wheel, holding the entire carnival in my eyes, and then just as quickly speed down the other side as my stomach bounced up. Unloading, similar to loading, was quick, crazy, and quite the experience. We were of course unfamiliar with the procedure and got off the wrong side, were quickly shooed and corralled into the right direction as the Ferris wheel sped away again. It was amazing!

On Monday morning we went to the Daulatabad Fort, a powerful 14th century fort city that evolved in the hands of numerous dynasties. Two of us decided to make the 210ft climb to the top. We had to cross the once foreboding and crocodile filled moat, climb the twisty, steep staircases and navigate through the pitch-black bat infested corridors of the well-fortified fort. With the help of a young boy selling fresh pineapple slices and his cell-phone flash light we were able to find the way up the blindingly dark and dangerously steep (bat piss smelling) staircases. He was such a sweetheart, too bad we couldn’t buy any of his wonderful smelling pineapple for fear of getting sick. After climbing an endless amount of stairs we reached the top and were welcomed by a breath-taking view of the surrounding fortress, city of Aurangabad, and expansive Western Ghats. We were also gifted with a cool and refreshing breeze as we posed for pictures with the massive cannon.

Finally, sufficiently exhausted and completely caved out, we headed back to Pune. On the way home our driver stopped on the side of the expressway to buy flower garlands to decorate our car. Monday was Deserra and the streets everywhere were lined with carts selling beautiful, bright orange marigold garlands with which people decorated their vehichles, homes, and store fronts with. Barefoot on the side of the expressway I watched our driver and Sonal perform a Puja (blessing with the flowers) on the car.

Awesome weekend!

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Sunday, October 11, 2009

I love taking pictures

caves with a side of monkeys

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