Asia-Europe 2012

Unlike Ellora (known for their architecture), the Ajanta Caves are appreciated for the paintings. To better preserve them most caves are kept dark. Since flash photography or tripod use is forbidden, not much can be seen in the pictures. So you have to believe us that they were cute.

One thing we noticed is that, while these monuments in India are recognized as being of great importance by worldwide scientist, few lonely foreign tourists are present compared to other major attractions we’ve seen, including those in Indochina. Could that be because of the inhospitable roads? The uninhabitable hotels? Or maybe because foreigners are charged as much as 32 times the price Indians have to pay for the entrance?

Our patience has finally paid back. Just watch this true wonder. A prime example of World Heritage Site, at par with the Angkor or the Colloseum.

There are totally 34 artificial caves build between V and X centuries, out of which 12 are Buddhist, 17 are Hindu and 5 are Jain temples. All of them are monolythic structures i.e they were built solely by removing with the chisel material from a huge rock and not by addition. The process of excavating the largest cave/temple is estimated to have taken around 100 years. While most caves are almost intact, some of them have partially collapsed while few have been reinforced with concrete pillars.

From Goa we went East to find Pattadakal (Karnataka state), an archeologic site with temples dating from the VII century. Not nearly as impressive as what was to follow but still worth seeing and richly decorated.

Most temples are grouped together but a few are spread in the nearby villages.

After almost one month in India we haven’t found one neat&clean-yet-affordable-place-to-sleep-for-the tired-traveller. First, we learned that “hotel” in Indian English does not mean “hotel” as you know it (unless you are in a tourist spot) but a place to eat!!! And the actual hotel is called “lodge”.

In India there are three kinds of hotels: very expensive, dirty and very dirty. So we got used to accept any place as long as it doesn’t smell too bad and we can persuade the staff to replace the bed sheets (which they claim are already changed but are usually filthy). Apart from one very cute place in Kurseong, near Darjeeling, no hotel had running hot water. Wi-fi Internet or room mini refrigerator, so common from Vietnam to Nepal (and in South America), are uneard of in India. Dust is usually in thick layer and walls are in desperate need of repair and painting. The hotel in Caclutta was no exception, as we were hoping.

One unusual feature in Indian hotel rooms is the number of electrical switches. While a normal hotel room should have 4-5 switches, the average room in India has at least 12. The record was 20 (all those pictured are from the same room, in Bombay). So I have to keep my flashlight handy just in case I need to use the bathroom in the night time, since there is no indication as to which switch switches what.