last of India

We are leaving India in day or so.

The rest of our trip will feel like ‘fast-forward’ travel as we will be zooming through Africa, Egypt and England. I hope we have enough time to write. The last few days have been hot and dry with some really long travel days. We wanted to see three sights of UNESCO monumental significance, Ellora, Ajanta and Hampi, so we moved inland, away from the humidity and relaxation of Goa’s beach scene.

With these travel days I have been terser than usual- we had little travel and much relaxing within the last 7 weeks, then proceeded to cram a huge amount of miles in. It had to be this way, as the three sights were North of Goa and East of Mumbai (Bombay). We did two back to back travel nights, one on a bus and one in a train, and the lack of sleep gave the cold that Heath had in Goa the opportunity to mount my defenses and win.  

To see the incredible rock-hewn caves at Ellora and be close to the train station for our return overnight sleeper to Mumbai, we stayed for three nights in the big town of Aurangabad.  The hotels were full, so  we had to settle for an overpriced (650Rs) dingy place with ants. Armies of little sugar ants have been pretty common the last few months, but never before have I had as many of them crawl up on my bed, and on me. These ones didn’t bite, but because they crossed the line, and were on my body, they were squished. Heath and Raven didn’t seem to have this problem, lucky me! The hotel had the makings of a nice place- there was a green courtyard in the middle of all the ground floor rooms.  The mattresses were hard and lumpy, the sheets were debatable-ly not changed before the previous tenants, and the bathroom facilities were a hole in the floor for a squat toilet tucked into a room so small a larger person would have to back in to use it. The ‘bathing room ‘ was larger, consisting of a bucket and a tap for our shower. There was a small TV with western channels, the room’s only redeeming quality, besides the fact that there were three beds. This area is the gateway to the temple caves at Ellora and Ajanta, so we paid double what seemed fair for the room. This is the first time a hotel has wanted a deposit- generally the first nights rent in advance and a huge amount of paperwork is all that is required.  Mumbai will be the same- overpriced for a tiny room, but the going rate there is 1500Rs. We will only stay one night.  

We have been lucky having three beds this last little while. In this heat, sharing a double with three people is not fun. None of us want to touch the other, as we are all glistening with sweat. The overhead fan makes the nights bearable, but we haven’t used sheets for a long time, we just sleep on top of the bed.

I am tired of the touts constantly trying to sell me things, and tired of rickshaw drivers quoting an unfair price until we barter them down to something more reasonable. A tame example of a vendor is in the bus station, waiting for busses. Guys walk around selling cold water. Usually they wave it around, walking and yelling “Pani! Water!” When they get to us- they stop and are a little more demanding, leaving only after you show them that you already have some. They also come on the busses at stops. There can be four guys selling different snacks and water in the aisles, getting off only when the bus starts pulling away. Still, that is pretty tame compared to the tourist shop vendors!

The ones that have frustrated me the most are the ones at the UNESCO sights- walking around with their pitiful wares- claiming glass earrings are ‘crystals’ that we can buy for a ‘good price’. They zone in on us white tourists and ask each one of us three times to look at their items, following us when we ignore them or say “No thanks”. It has been hard to be polite, and even take them as individuals, as I have generalized them into “Annoying” and want to avoid the unpleasant interaction.  I know they must be desperate for money, but they can’t know that we get this ALL THE TIME.

I am definitely ready to move on from the heat!  It was 41 degrees inside a restaurant yesterday afternoon. The three day stay at Aurangabad wasn’t the most beautiful place to spend our last few days in India, as it is a large town, and there wasn’t anything to see within walking distance.  Unfortunately, there weren’t any English movies to see, either. We got our fill of TV instead.

I’ll leave it to Heath’s eloquent writing to fill you in about the details of the ancient monuments and temples, some built before B.C. that we have seen.

We have no idea what to expect from Africa. It is super exciting!