New Places, some new friends.....

Why have I waited so long to write a blog: busy, lazy, don't worry why; it's here.
After leaving friends in Hydrabad, I made my way to Aurangabad which is where you go to see the Ajanta and Ellora Caves.
Constructed between 200BC and 650AD, the Ajanta Caves are cut from the volcanic lavas of the Deccan Trap in a steep crescent shaped hillside in a forested ravine of the Sahyadri hills. Years and years went by at the jungle gulped them up until they were again discovered in the 1800's.



This above is one of the famous buildings of Aurangabad.

I've been trying to eat at least 1 pomegranite every other day, when you can buy them from a guy who sells them from a basket off his bike, it makes it easy.



The Ajanta caves.

The detail and beauty of each cave really is incredible. To think that these caves were done with a chisel and they had one shot at it. This set of caves took hundreds of years to complete.


Of course within each cave there are carvings of Gods to pray too. You can see the enormity of them though.





This waterfall was on the walk to the caves.


The Ellora caves lie near an important ancient trade route and consists of some Hindu, some Jain, and some Buddhist caves. The caves are thought to be the work of priests and pilgrims who used the route.
This is the rickshaw driver I hired for the day to see the Ellora caves. He is from the area and has never been in the caves, for years has only shuttled people back and forth....so I made him go inside with me and if you could have seen his eyes light up while inside the caves.


I stopped in Ahmadabad, Gujarat to visit my cousin Amy's friend, Alana. We explored for the day and went to see a great short film festival. This is her and her roomies. Then I was off to see my Indian family in Saiwar and then to Delhi to meet up with Ann for my first tour of India with a OneLoveTour traveler.

This will be the next blog written very soon.