I didn't realize it has been 10 days since a blog entry. We've had bad wifi lately (hope it will be OK here!), and we've been exhausted. The last 5 days or so of riding have been very difficult: terrible road surfaces or terrible traffic, some headwinds, hot, and in some cases both terrible roads and terrible traffic! The roads and traffic are much worse than we expected. We find that in general the bigger vehicles, such as trucks and busses, give us adequate space, and the motorcycles are sometimes a little close but they are very much in control. However, it's the small white cars that give us fits, like the one that brushed Greg off the road. We're hoping for better conditions soon!!
We had a rest day in Mandu, which is known for the large number of ruins in the area. We rode our bikes around to see some of the ruins. My favorite was Baz Bahadur's Palace and Rupmati's Pavilion. The story goes that the poet/prince Bahadur was in love with Rupmati, a beautiful Hindu singer. He built her a beautiful palace on the hillside above his palace, from where she could gaze down at her lover's palace.
As in many legendary love stories, there is an unhappy ending to this one: when Bahadur's palace was invaded he fled, leaving Rupmati to poison herself.
After Mandu we rode to the Ajanta Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Using the word "cave" does not do justice to what is there. There are I think 29 caves, built high in cliffs above a horseshoe bend in the river below. These structures were carved out of the basalt cliff face during a period from 200 BC to 650 AD, and were built to honor Buddha. Some were monasteries where monks lived in truly monastic cells and studied and prayed. The caves were only occupied during the monsoon season, then the monks left to teach in the surrounding villages. The carvings are stunning in their detail, and in addition all the walls and ceilings were painted with great detail, giving us modern visitors a glimpse of the elaborate society that existed then. We could see fabric designs, wine being drunk, and many paintings and carvings of the various incarnations of Buddha.
It was quite amazing and fascinating!
An interesting note to the Ajanta Caves is that as the caves at Ellora were developed and Buddhism waned, these caves were abandoned and forgotten. They were rediscovered in 1819 by a British hunting party. Since they were abandoned for so long, they weren't vandalized over the years, and are in a remarkable state of preservation, considering their age.
A day's terrible ride (think hot, dusty, abysmal roads, and lots of traffic over 65 miles) brought us to Ellora, where we are now. These caves were developed from 600-900 AD, and except for one, are not nearly as impressive as the ones in Ajanta. However, the Kailasa Temple cave is astonishing. It was carved from the rock over a 150 year period (imagine the engineering that was required to build a structure of this magnificence during 10 generations of builders!). It covers twice the area of the Parthenon in Athens, and it is estimated that 200,000 tons of rock were removed. The whole central courtyard area is open to the sky.
Now for some random notes! First of all, MONKEYS! There are lots of monkeys here, and I have never liked them, and now I like them even less! First monkey story: on a really long, hard climb, they lined the walls along the road by the hundreds, and sometimes sat along the edge of the road with their monster tails trailing into the roadway. They pretty much ignored us as we rode by, but nobody wanted to stop. These were large grey monkeys with black faces. We passed a car that had stopped along the road - maybe to feed them? - and it had monkeys all over it - on the hood, the roof, the back, probably 10 in all. Very scary! Our van driver said one monkey jumped onto the rear view mirror but was slammed off by another monkey! Fortunately when the climb got steeper and I had to walk, there were no monkeys, or I might have found the inner fortitude to keep riding!
Monkey story number 2: On our rest day at the Ajanta caves, there were monkeys on the grounds of the hotel. We stayed in individual bungalows and there was a lot of grass and trees.
This place had a "monkey wrangler" who carried a slingshot and roamed the grounds and occasionally climbed trees! He must have had good aim because it seemed to keep them at bay pretty well.
Monkey story number 3: At this place we were warned they had a "monkey problem", so we stripped our bikes of everything that might be interesting to the creatures. Greg and I and another rider, Billie, were sitting on our balcony enjoying a beer and eating a bag of chips while we watched and laughed at the antics of a group of very young monkeys cavorting in the treetops below us. Later, Greg and I were in our room with the door to the balcony open when a monkey came in through the door. I screamed at it, and it calmly looked at me, plucked an unopened bag of chips off the dresser, and escaped to another balcony to eat them! After getting over our shock, we had a good laugh!
Food: we have been eating very well, and might even gain weight on this trip! Some hotels are vegetarian (veg) only, and the ones that do serve meat have only chicken and mutton. We are eating delicious potatoes, sometimes mixed with peas, sometimes with cauliflower. Lots of varieties of dal. Paneer, which is baked cottage cheese cubes that has the look and texture of soy, only cheesy. It is in all kinds of sauces, from spinach to tomato. Of course, lots of bean mixtures, and curries, with eggs or meat. We do get French fries often at the end of our ride, to scarf down with a beer. All the food is deliciously spiced, and most of it is tamed down a little for our Western sensibilities. We are loving the food!
That's all for now. We love reading all your comments - thanks so much for them!
Yvonne
2019-02-22
I loved the caves too. Am at airport now leaving for Africa!!!
David J
2019-02-22
Thanks for beautiful pictures and interesting stories. In Nepal, the monkeys usually congregated at temples because worshipers would bring banana offerings. There were so many fearless monkeys, lots carrying small infants and unpredictable, it was intimidating. Never had a problem at the hotels.
Sandi
2019-02-22
Glad that you are getting chips, my favorite ride food, and the monkey obviously knows whats good! The food sounds wonderful!! The sculptures are amazing, especially the elephants!!
Bryan
2019-02-22
I have a video of monkeys on the patio of the bungalow playing around and one trying to break into the room through the sliding glass door. Someone on our tour lost clothing they left out to dry.Up the tree it went! As a vegetarian, India was paradise for me! The caves are magical. Hope you got a chance to see the visitor center and the fantastic movie and dioramas.
Bryan
2019-02-22
BTW, the black face monkey is a Gray langur.
Susan N.
2019-02-22
Oh Eve and Greg, Such wonderful stories and photos! I have signed you both up to up to be foster parents with Top Banana Monkey Rescue in Tucson when you return so you can get over your aversion and learn to love these naughty, playful little creatures who are our not so distant relatives. Little "Tammy Faye" - a three year old Pig Tailed Macaque, will look forward to being your latest house guest. They will be contacting you upon your return. In Jaipur they have a monkey bakery near the monkey temple where you can buy baked "offerings" for the altar. In an ironic twist, the real monkeys steal everything off the altar of the Monkey God. One tried to take Ray's camera right out of his hands but when Ray hissed at him and bit him on the tail-he ran in terror. So, try hissing or pretending you are Ray next time.
Janka
2019-02-22
Be aware of the black faced monkeys. They're super smart and can gang up on you. And will steal any food they get to. But you already learned the lesson. Andrew has a story with them as well. ;-)
Rod R.
2019-02-22
Great blogs and what an adventure! Had no idea that India had so many monkeys: I guess they're not an endangered species. Be careful please on the roads so you can keep enjoying the food.
Bob Schmidt
2019-02-23
More great stories and pics. You have dust, last summer in Nepal our cycling challenge was the mud.