After a few long train journeys (just under 900kms), early starts and a couple of overnight stops we finally made it to Aurangabad. The highlights of this week were the Ajanta and Ellora caves.
The Ajanta Caves, another UNESCO World heritage site, were a 3 hour drive from Aurangabad, so we booked a driver to take us there. There are 30 Buddhist cave monuments cut into a 75 metre (246 feet) wall of rock and date from between the second century BC to around 480 AD. Some of the caves were unfinished (empty) but in others, the detail and artwork were amazing. There were lots of steps, again, but totally worth it.
The following day we went to Ellora caves another UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one of the largest rock-cut cave complexes in the world. The artwork dates from 600–1000 AD, and includes Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain caves. There are about 100 in total but only 34 are open to the public. Several are not really caves as they don't have a roof. The biggest cave, also known as Shri Kailasa temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and features the largest single monolithic rock excavation in the world. It took over 200 years and 10 generations to complete. We thought Petra was awesome but this takes it to the next level.
In the afternoon we visited Bibi ka Maqbara, built from white marble and styled on the Taj Mahal. The mausoleum was constructed in 1679 for the Murghal emperor Aurangzeb as a tribute to his wife, Rabia-ul-Daurani.
There were no trains going north from Aurangabad so we had to come back down to Mumbai to change lines. A bit like coming into Kings Cross and going back out from Paddington
We caught the early train (05.50) on Saturday morning back to Mumbai and had an extra day sightseeing as there were no bookable trains until Monday.
Now we start our journey north once more.
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