Budget: 3500 Rupees/$70; Spent: 3207R/$64
From the minute we woke up this morning, Patty was in and out of the washroom. Her stomach was hurting terribly and we weren't sure whether we'd be able to do anything sightseeing today. When she was feeling a little better, we went down to the hotel's restaurant for breakfast. We took it pretty slow and Patty didn't eat much. Once she had to rush back up to our room. After breakfast, we decided to go back up to the room so Patty could rest for a while and then decided whether she was good enough to see Ajanta today.
Our plan for today was to take the two-hour bus ride to the Ajanta caves. The Ellora caves are much closer, but unfortunately those are closed today. If we were going to see the Ajanta caves, it had to be today. At about 10am, Patty decided she was good enough to see Ajanta today, even though she was by no means feeling great.
We took an auto-rickshaw to the bus depot and then boarded a bus bound for Ajanta nearly immediately. Our trip was uneventful, but long. Closer to three hours. Twice Patty had severe stomach pains during the ride. It was difficult to watch helplessly as she doubled over due to pain. I think she was very worried about the lack of a nearby washroom...and rightly so!! We were sandwiched for most of the ride at the back of the bus among some locals. It was a bumpy ride but much cheaper than any scheduled tour group.
We arrived at the caves around 1pm and Patty rushed to the nearest washroom, her stomach aching badly, while I went to buy the tickets. Patty told me later that a woman waiting in line in front of her for the bathroom refused to allow Patty to go first, despite Patty clearly being desperate. Apparently this lady tried to direct her to another washroom that was upstairs. That's just disgustingly inconsiderate.
Afterwards, Patty felt a little better, although she was visibly upset. I think India is definitely taking a toll on us. We can't eat properly, we're traveling in uncomfortable conditions, we're too cold or too hot, we're sick, dehydrated, not sleeping well...the list goes on and on. We're definitely breaking a little under all the pressure, but we still hope to be able to make it to the places we want to see in India. We're really trying to not let it get to us too much.
Once we had decided that Patty was OK to walk for a bit, we headed to the caves.
The caves of Ajanta are wonderful. They are of Buddhist origin and date back to between the 2nd century BC and the 6th century AD. Twenty-eight caves lie in a horseshoe shape along the Waghore river. The insides of the caves are impressive, with beautifully carved rock columns and coloured paintings that can still be seen on the walls. In the summer time, which is also monsoon season, there are waterfalls near the sight and the Waghore river, which is now dry, is a large river. It’s supposed to be magnificent to see, but landslides are apparently a real risk.
People were also taking pictures of us like crazy. There were many school kids, and there teachers would often encourage them to take pictures with us. Of course, the teachers themselves couldn't leave without getting into the action, either. It was a hilarious experience. We got a little taste of what it means to be a celebrity. I think we liked it!
There were also people being carried through the site on seats carried by four workers. It was very odd. Seeing is believing:
Unfortunately, we only got up to cave 8 when Patty couldn't go on. She had begun feeling ill again and it just wasn't worth it to stay. It didn't help that it was scorching hot, which is something we're definitely not used to. We realized that we would have to prepare ourselves better and definitely hydrate better, especially since we're ill.
We crossed a bridge to the other side of the dry river bed so that Patty could sit in the shade while I climbed up the short walk to the viewpoint at the top of the opposing hill. The climb was brief and definitely worth it. From the top of this hill, the 28 caves of Ajanta were in a half-circle shape around me. It was an impressive sight.
Two men had set up a small shop at the top of the hill and one of the men told me to walk a couple minutes away from the caves to check out the waterfalls that lead to the valley. I chose not to wander off too far, knowing Patty was waiting for me, but I did see where a large waterfall would exist if there had been water. It would have been something to see water pouring over the edge.
I raced back down the hill to find Patty chatting away with a local salesperson. Apparently, while I was away, Patty had a nice conversation with a friendly local vendor. He goes to the site 6 days a week and makes a living selling small souvenirs. They talked a bit about cricket and she asked him if he was upset about India losing to Pakistan. He quickly corrected Patty and said they had won, but Patty corrected him saying they lost the whole series. Apparently he didn't seem too upset about it, even though cricket is by far the most popular sport in India. We've seen kids on the street stop to watch the sport through windows of restaurants or other businesses that are showing a match. The vendor even said girls play cricket in India. There were many vendors at Ajanta today and not too many tourists. They are all selling similar souvenirs. It is such a competitive business for them, and likely not much compensation.
We decided to find an alternative ride home to the snail paced bus. Both of us were exhausted and not feeling too well, so we thought paying a little extra would be worth it. In no time, we found a ride home for 600R ($12) in the back of a Jeep.
We ended up sitting next to a nice Swedish couple whose names were Therese and Victor. We talked to them the whole ride home. Victor worked as a tree cutter/artist back home, and Therese was working to get a designation as a gardener. Very unique professions. They too were planning to see the Ellora Caves tomorrow, and we eventually agreed to find a taxi together for the next day. Sure enough the same taxi driver who drove us home agreed to take us to the Ellora Caves the next day for 1000 Rupees total. A good deal for sure, especially when split four ways.
Once we got back to the hotel we were advised we would need to switch to a different room. Apparently we had been staying in a nicer room than we had paid for. We had to pack up all our stuff and move to the 3rd floor. We quickly learned what 200 Rupees can mean in India and vowed always pay a bit more for a room in the future. The new room had no carpet (not a big deal), it also had 2 twin beds that we had to push together to make a double (also, not a big deal). Our biggest issue was with the toilet. It was a normal toilet in every sense, except it had no seat. It was just a bowl...something we didn't realize until I had to use it. Ah, what a lovely night we had. We were livid, but too tired to say anything, let alone move if they offered us another room. But anyway, how can a hotel not invest a couple dollars on a toilet seat?!
The shower was hot though and it had some actual water pressure, which somewhat compensated for the toilet. Once again we've found you can never get everything in India.
We went downstairs for dinner and were very careful not to eat too much. We had some soup and then up to bed we went to watch a bit of Lincoln. And that was our day.
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