From Mumbai Airport

This key board is very sticky, I am typing standing up, look on the bright side, it's a free connection
but it may have even more typos and spelling mistakes than ever!

Aurangabad was good. The hotel was basic but clean, with the most amusing loo. It had a very large sort of wing effect around the seat, ridged too, we thought it might have been an unsuccesful prototype of a combination squatter come western style toilet, regected because of health and safety issues.

We also had a lovely, safe, slow, cautious driver called Rifaq, he drove us about for 2 and a bit days and was so nice and helpful. Best of all his car was an old Ambassador, white and shining, bench seat at the front, some thing from the 50,s.

We saw the Ellora ansd Ajanta caves and they are just fantastic. I had never heard of them till we got here and as no one had properly described them I thoughtwe were coming a long way to see some caves ? They are better described as rock temples, carved out of cliff faces in the way that Petra is. Talk about impressive, we will up load some photos when we have an opportunity.

Ajanta caves are hughe and it was extreemly hot in the deep gorge in which they are situated, there are 30 caves, I saw about 7 and Brian made it round the whole lot. I sat in the shade and waited for him, between us we drank 2 l of water in about 2 hours!

Ellora caves are more easily accessible and much more exiting, they are so carved and decorated, just beautiful, with much more of the origional colour visible and one of the caves is actually a complete Jain Temple carved out of a cliff. Loads of Gods of all sorts and many live bats in the darker deeper recesses. My 50p torch from the Marks sale came in very handy.

Travel today much better, we left the hotel in the dark due to a 6am power cut, we had packed last night and had the wind up torch for room checking. No breakfast, hotel staff still asleep on their quilts in the lobby. Fortunatly the budget airline jet is fantastic and we had breakfast on the plane.


Tess