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Other entries in Ellora

*Head Wobble*

Leaving Mumbai, we headed to Aurangabad, where we stayed for a couple of days. There's not a great deal to do in Aurangabad other than eat good food whilst watching the cricket, but it's a good place to use for day-trips to the nearby Ellora and Ajanta. And so, on our first day we got a bus to Ellora...

There's plenty of things to see here, but the main attraction is the set of ancient caves carved into/out of the side of a hill, some of which date back to the fifth century. There's Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves all within a close range of each other, including the massive Kailash Temple. Although it looks like one big complex of rock structures that have been put together, it's not - it's actually carved out of just one piece of rock. I would never have believed this if i hadn't walked back a hundred yards or so and seen clearly that the entire site is cut into the hill...it's absolutely incredible. Really, saying that it's "cut into" the hill is inaccurate...it's not really cut into the hill as such, it's more that...the hill has been removed, leaving the temple standing. Apparently 300,000 tonnes of rock were dug away...!

We also saw what is basically a mini-version of the Taj Mahal. Can't for the life of me remember the name of it, and i haven't got The Books with me to check, but if i remember rightly it was built in an attempt to basically copy the Taj Mahal. It was faily impressive, but, well, a blatant rip off...and a bit scrubby in places.

Apart from the Kailash Temple, by far the most impressive thing in Ellora was the huge fortress, Daulatabad. This is the first fort we've been to in India (plenty more to come in Rajasthan...), and what a fort it is! It's mostly in ruins now but you can still get a feel for its impregnable nature as you wander through the coutyards. It has so many fantastic defence mechanisms...my personal favourite was the maze you have to go through about halfway up. There's no light inside this bit at all, not even the tiniest speck of daylight. It's absolutely pitch black, you can't see anything. And it's a maze of corridors. Some of which lead up staircases...for about five or six steps...before suddenly turning into a hole in the floor. Attackers would run into the maze, not know/be able to see where they were going, run up these false passages...and fall down the holes, straight out into the moat below. Quality! We were somewhat wary of meeting that fate ourselves, but fortunately the fort provides tourists with a bloke with a massive flame-torch to lead you throw...if you give him some baksheesh, of course...

Because we'd travelled from Aurangabad to Ellora on a bus, we were part of a tour with other visitors, and had a fixed guide for the whole day. This guy was perhaps the funniest guy i've ever seen. He was so damn cool, dressed up smartly, sunglasses, the whole lot. And the way he spoke...slow...pauses...between... every...thing...he...said... giving...maximum... effect...to...the...points... he...made...which...were... always...punctuated...with... a...furious...head wobble! Everyone must've been wondering what the hell we kept laughing at!

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