Ten ASB people went to Aurangabad this weekend. I went with Megan and Andrea. Our friends Angelo, Andrew, Debbie, Fenella ,Zach, Waciuma, and Nancy were on the same flight as us. The school van took us to the airport after school. This was my first Indian domestic flight. Security is tight - you have to prove you have a ticket to get in the door and many times after that. It is not really common, but also not unheard of to have terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Indian sites have a huge problem with my first name having two word!! I could not get my boarding pass even with a guy helping me. When I finally got it through a woman at the counter, I figured out the problem! It was listed as Bobbi Jostaley !! So I have a new last name! There is a separate security line for women and they pretty much feel you up. So do not complain about pat downs in the US! We had a Kingfisher plane with propellers. That did not sit well with our companion who is afraid of flying!
When we got to Aurangabad I tried to go to bed right away. Megan and Andrea went to find food and an ATM. There was a doorbell to our hotel room that kept randomly going off! I thought it was an alarm system and couldn't figure out why it would go of when I was opening cabinets. It made a horrible sound! When Andrea came back we realized it was the doorbell and two hotel guys came to fix it. I was in my pjs in bed with my head less than 12 inches from the stupid thing. It went off so often I stopped reacting to it. Megan and Andrea were in the hall laugh hysterically because other guests on the hall were poking their heads out of their rooms to see what the commotion was about! Tthe guys would think they fixed it say "ok madam no problem" and start to walk away and it would go off! Finally he unplugs it and says "ok madam. It fixed now" ha!
On Saturday our driver picked us up at 8:30 am to drive us to Ellora Caves. We stopped at the tour agent place where we had bought our tour through and they had internet with an old school computer :) He gave us tea and sent us on our way. There are 34 preserved caves. Four are Jain. Twelve are Buddist and the others are Hindi. they were amazing! Wonderful sculptures and quiet green spaces. The drive up was nice-lots of green and water buffalo. We actually had the windows down with the wind blowing through our hair! We stopped at a Sheva Temple on the way. Sheva is a very hot tempered god so worshippers pour milk on him (well the big penis that represents him) to cool him off.Tthe outside of the temple was really pretty. we had to take our shoes off to go in and itwas hot and the smell of hot milk mixed with a crowd of people was not pleasant! Hindis welcome everyone to participate in their ceremonies so they gave flowers for us to give as offerings. It is hard to balance being a Christian with experiencing the culture here. I want to observe their culture and learn about it but so much of it is religious. I don't want to be rude but I also refuse to give offerings or worship another gods. I have found that a lot of International teachers are very free spirited it and inclusive so there aren't many born again Christians that I work with. I learn a lot from the non Christian teachers but it is nice that I have a few believers to share with and help keep me accountable.
Anyone want to guess how long it took me to fall on this trip?? Any guesses? First stop at the temple!! Stepped out of the car and fell in a hole! Twisted my knee before I got to do any hiking.
The caves were great but we had no idea we would be one of the major tourist attractions!! Tons of Indians asked to pose with us for pictures. Andrea and Megan went exploring in this huge cave temple while I sat by a sculpture and rested my knees. Many people sat next to me to get a pic. This guy ran up to me handed me his baby!! He and all the rest of the family stood back and tried to get the baby's attention - he was looking at me with big eyes that said "who are you white woman and why am I in your lap?"
On the way back we stopped to get snacks and I paid 5 rupees each for a bag of chips and a pack of cookies. That's like 12 cents. We stopped at silk weaving place that was amazing. they showed us how the matierial was woven. I bought some pillow covers and the others bought some scarves etc.
I am obsessed with elephants!
We went back to the hotel to take a nap. My pill bottle rolled under the bed. I was leaning over the bed with my hand fishing under the bed. I couldn't reach it so I looked under there and thought i saw a rat! I realized the tail was really long and it occurred to me it was a string - it was a used tampon!!! so gross!!!!!! Other than that the hotel wasnt too bad. We had a western toilet and hot water and there was a huge die in the shower for some reason.
We met Nancy and Zach at this great tandori restaurant. The food was awesome and we had a great time!
Here is some more info on Ellora caves http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellora_Caves
I have lots of picutres up on facebook :)
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