Aurangabad, Maharashtra

Myself and 7 friends arrived in Aurangabad, in the western state of Maharashtra, at 5am by sleeper train out of Secunderabad. The trip took 11 hours. On the car ride to the train station, my friend Katie was very ill. I, in turn, began to feel more and more iffy every time we pulled over for her. By the time our big blue and yellow train was pulling away from the station, I was extremely nauseous. I tried convincing myself that it was all in my head, but I was already beyond the point of no return. Within 20 minutes my head was out of the emergency window, and I was spewing lunch all over the side of the train (and my arm, incidentally). The rest of the ride was a nightmare- between a huge seat exchange mixup, vomiting violently into a plastic bag in my lap, hyperventilating, as my friends scrambled to find the conductor to get us our seats back, and squatting over a hole releasing the demons within my gastrointestinal tract all over the Indian countryside. Everyone else managed to sleep soundly, while I watched the hours crawl by, curled up in a ball on the top bunk shivering feverishly with stabbing pains in my abdomen, getting up every 20 minutes to run to the little girls room. Unfortunately, my first train ride was not quite the re-creation of the Darjeeling Limited.

After sleeping for about four hours in our room at the Hotel Shree Maya, only minutes from Aurangabad station, we got up and hired a driver to take us to see the amazing Ellora caves. The caves are former monasteries and temples from Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist religions, carved at different intervals between 500-1000 AD. We spent most of the morning wandering around the rock caves, until we (they) had worked up quite an appetite and asked our driver to find us a neat local place. I was able to keep some paneer mutter down, and of course a bar of ice cream. Following lunch, our driver insisted we visit Daulatabad fort- a 12th century fortress with awesome ramparts, spiked wooden doors, and dark passageways where intruders would be trapped, led towards an open window, then whisked down a chute into the moat to be munched on by alligators. There were thousands of bats over our heads as we weaved up 500 steps, winding inside and out of the fort. It was exhausting being so dehydrated, but I am so glad Veena and I made our way to the top. The view was spectacular, and we could see the hills, farms and villages for miles. Even though it was a tourist spot, we were still basically the only white people there- which almost creates this celebrity status. Indians want photos of us, whether or not we are willing to pose for them. The teenage boys are the worst (they have no problem holding their camera phones in your face as you walk by, or hounding you relentlessly until you get up and leave). At the top of the fort, as I took in the view, a schoolteacher and his stuents approached me and asked to take a photo with me. I obliged, feeling like I didn't really earn the awe emanating from their stares, because the kids were adorable. Some of them hadn't seen an American before. It is an interesting feeling to be the minority.

We came back and ate at the hotel for dinner, which I couldn't stomach, and hit the hay hard and early. Getting up at a decent hour was a difficult but good idea, and we got a head start to the Ajanta caves. Our same driver, a lover of bumpin' good bollywood music from Gajhini and other recent films we'd seen, took us there in style. And I must once again reiterate that driving in India is like a constant game of chicken. I have gotten used to barreling down on oncoming traffic on the opposite side of the road, imminent death, etc. I was hoping to feel better on this day, but I think that the hike the day before set me back in my dehydration. I was still very weak and nauseous for most of the outing, and felt like a pathetic zombie dragging my dried, hunched body up and down stairs into 30 different Buddhist caves from the 2nd century BC. The caves had paintings, sculptures and pillars depicting Buddha's life. The entire area was cut into the sides of this C-shaped valley in the Sahyadri hills, and if it had been monsoon season, there would have been waterfalls cascading around us. It was a beautiful place.

The next day we decided to play by ear and explored Aurangabad city for a while. It is mostly a tourist town, with its close proximity to the famous caves. The city itself was very nice, with a slower, calmer pace than Hyderabad. We settled on first visiting Bibi Ka Maqbara, the burial place of this man Aurangzeb's wife. It is an imitation of the Taj Mahal in Agra, and due to its similar design, it is popularly known as the "Mini Taj." It was pretty neat, with the intricately carved marble designs, domes, and long reflecting pool. The stone felt great under our bare feet as we entered the tomb. Next, we proceeded to a shopping area, which we had hoped was an open market but what turned out to be western stores, and milled around. Settling on a place for lunch called "Smile," we enjoyed dosas and lussies (similar to crepes and yogurty milkshakes). Yum! I was actually alive finally, and could enjoy my meal! We made our way back by autorickshaw, and found a beauty parlor advertising Mehendi, the local version of henna. We thought it would be a quick stop, but with 8 people and one artist, it turned into hours at this woman's home. She sat us down in her living room after shooing her husband off his couch, and served us chai and snacks and put on bootlegged bollywood for us. Her daughter, about 7, flipped through photo albums of the family with us as the woman ran to fetch reinforcements. The whole ordeal took hours, but we didn't once feel uncomfortable or unwanted. As the mehendi caked of of our skin and left detailed designs weaving down our arms, we thanked the family for sharing their beautiful home with us strangers for hours.

We enjoyed our last dinner on a porch at the hotel that we didn't know existed- it was always full of surprises! Even when the final bill came, and it cost me less than 20$ for the 3 night stay with meals included. What a country! Leaving the hotel was no fun at 3AM, but I enjoyed walking down the dark, deserted street to the train station in the cool night air. There was a stillness in the streets that I had yet to experience in India- it seemed like the bustling never stopped! We boarded our train at 4:10 AM, and I knew that this ride could not possibly be any worse than the first. In fact, it turned out to be quite enjoyable. I slept for the first few hours, until I realized that there was a man on my bed. We were all separated this ride, and I was on a bottom bunk, seat 64. I looked at my watch and the man made sense. The time was 9AM, and and he was an older gentleman, probably too stiff to lay down anymore. He just wanted to eat his breakfast. Since I was occupying the bottom bunk, I was the person deciding when the other bunks could sit like normal people, opposed to hunchbacks. I groaned, wanting to keep sleeping, but I got up instead because it was awkward to have some man sitting on my bed and I felt bad making him hunch at his old age. I know he felt bad for waking me, but was relieved to fold up his middle bunk and stretch out his back. I spent the train ride reading, observing the older couple across from me (as the old woman stitched a saree blouse and her husband gazed at the rolling countryside rushing past), and fraternizing with a group of young yuppie men that my friends had met in their compartment. They made for an interesting ride between their "how do you perceive me" game, and discussing our differing views on relationships and marriages. Either way, the train ride went much quicker and we got a free cab ride home out of making their acquaintances. Albeit the cab driver did hit a motorcycle on our way home with two young boys on it (they were ok) and then run back yelling for his hubcap. All in all, it was an excellent first independent excursion! I was very happy to arrive home, wish my mom a happy birthday ;) and throw my pukey clothes in the wash. My computer is down for a while, so no pictures yet.. but stand by until next week or so!