Hello!
Mumbai was fun! The roads here are very busy, no such thing as 'safe crossing'! Sunday we were in Mumbai, we went to see the Gateway of India, the Taj Mahal Hotel and popped into Leopolds for a cheeky beer! On Monday we made our way to the train station, it was really busy and we were a bit early. The locals are really friendy but like to stare a lot -not sure how often they see caucasians! So to avoid beggers and staring eyes we read our books until we had a train platform.
The trains are retro and the signage is really clear so no worries finding our seats. For this journey we had bought the cheapest class -sleeper. We were anxious that it might not be comfortable and that it may be rammed but this was not the case. We were joined in our section by a young family and eventually some students. The family and the Students were really friendly, had a look in our books and also had a rummage through our lonely planet guide to India. The students we met study in Jalgaon which was our destination and they knew some great places to eat. They gave us some really great advice and made our journey fun. The scenary was amazing and there were so many communities living by the tracks and kids playing cricket all over the place.
Our student friends showed us to our hotel when we all got off the train which was really helpful. We popped out to a thali dining hall. Thali is a meal comprised of rice, breads and lots of different bowls of things. This was pretty yummy and we were both really full after (they come around and top up your bowls when they are empty).
The next day we woke up early and took the local buses 60km to Ajanta, to see the caves. The local buses are really retro, busy and everyone scrambles and pushes to get on (not really any different from the tube). The caves were re-discovered by the british (wahey) more than a hundred years ago. The caves are all early Buddhist monasteries built between the 2nd and 4th century. When I take the pics off my camera I will upload them! There are 30 caves in total and the level of preservation is varied (photography is prohibited so please check out Ajanta Caves on google images). Nonetheless the caves were amazing and we had a good time. The daunting thing is that Ryan and I have noticed that people like to take photos of us wherever we are! So today at the caves we were papped to the max, people also asked to have their pictures taken with us and lots of people saying hello and g'day at us (Ryan has his aussie shirt on) which was strange! I honestly believe there are more photos of us than we have taken ourselves!
So we are now just having a quick mooch on the internet and updating the blog in Jalgaon before we head back to the station to continue our Indian adventure. Our next train we are in a higher class for seating with A/C but no windows -such a shame as the landscape here is gorgeous. Next stop (in approx 18 hours) Varanasi...........
Mumbai was fun! The roads here are very busy, no such thing as 'safe crossing'! Sunday we were in Mumbai, we went to see the Gateway of India, the Taj Mahal Hotel and popped into Leopolds for a cheeky beer! On Monday we made our way to the train station, it was really busy and we were a bit early. The locals are really friendy but like to stare a lot -not sure how often they see caucasians! So to avoid beggers and staring eyes we read our books until we had a train platform.
The trains are retro and the signage is really clear so no worries finding our seats. For this journey we had bought the cheapest class -sleeper. We were anxious that it might not be comfortable and that it may be rammed but this was not the case. We were joined in our section by a young family and eventually some students. The family and the Students were really friendly, had a look in our books and also had a rummage through our lonely planet guide to India. The students we met study in Jalgaon which was our destination and they knew some great places to eat. They gave us some really great advice and made our journey fun. The scenary was amazing and there were so many communities living by the tracks and kids playing cricket all over the place.
Our student friends showed us to our hotel when we all got off the train which was really helpful. We popped out to a thali dining hall. Thali is a meal comprised of rice, breads and lots of different bowls of things. This was pretty yummy and we were both really full after (they come around and top up your bowls when they are empty).
The next day we woke up early and took the local buses 60km to Ajanta, to see the caves. The local buses are really retro, busy and everyone scrambles and pushes to get on (not really any different from the tube). The caves were re-discovered by the british (wahey) more than a hundred years ago. The caves are all early Buddhist monasteries built between the 2nd and 4th century. When I take the pics off my camera I will upload them! There are 30 caves in total and the level of preservation is varied (photography is prohibited so please check out Ajanta Caves on google images). Nonetheless the caves were amazing and we had a good time. The daunting thing is that Ryan and I have noticed that people like to take photos of us wherever we are! So today at the caves we were papped to the max, people also asked to have their pictures taken with us and lots of people saying hello and g'day at us (Ryan has his aussie shirt on) which was strange! I honestly believe there are more photos of us than we have taken ourselves!
So we are now just having a quick mooch on the internet and updating the blog in Jalgaon before we head back to the station to continue our Indian adventure. Our next train we are in a higher class for seating with A/C but no windows -such a shame as the landscape here is gorgeous. Next stop (in approx 18 hours) Varanasi...........
Sounds like your having fun! Mis you both! xxxx Auntie & Uncle Buck.xxxx
ReplyDeletei love caves, keep up the good travelling ;-)
ReplyDeleteShame about the poor little kids playing cricket.)
ReplyDeleteLove you both xxxxxxxxx
Tried to post a comment yesterday but it wouldn't work! Here's hoping. Sounds like a lot of fun so far.Great that the students helped you,
ReplyDeletelove, Dorothy/Mumxox
Glad to hear you're having a great time. It's a mad but amazing place isn't it? It's so weird how people want to have their photo taken with you isn't it? I'd forgotten about that!
ReplyDeleteHow good are you for keeping a blog? Think i managed one FB update the whole time we were away!
Keep it up anyway, I can get my travel fix through you!! Enjoy the next leg... Eliza x
arhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. glory is yours x
ReplyDelete