So, Hotel Manor turned out to be largely under construction. We checked in to this "3 star" palace and quickly discovered that the place (and apparently the surrounding city) is plagued by frequent power outages, which, in our windowless bathroom, left us blind on numerous occasions. In addition to the outages, the construction activity left our room as the only one being used on its floor, with the rest have doors ajar and / or garbage and construction debris filling the views in. Not quite the "very nice hotel" our trusty Bombay-based guides promised. But we were locked in, so we did nothing about it. After a quick check in, clean up, and brief nap, we went back downstairs to the lobby to meet the tour bus. It picked us up a bit late (lost precious napping time), then drove us out to the first of many sights on the tour schedule for that day. I wasn't fully tuned in to the fact that we'd be seeing so many other spots around Aurangabad that I don't really care about. It wouldn't have been a big deal except for the fact that our "all inclusive" tour suddenly did not include entry fees to these places, which quickly amounted to about 50% of what we paid for the whole tour in the first place. So... I'd late contact VISA to cancel the charge.
We went to a big fort whose name escapes me at the moment, then some other little turd sites, and finally to the Ellora Caves, which are an incredible collection of cave shrines dedicated to Buddha with various works of art, all of which were carved out of volcanic basalt over the course of many years. The caves, as well as the works in them, were created by carving and excavation from a solid starting block. It's really incredible stuff. That made the day worth it, despite the obligatory stop at a saree shop, and at the end of it we were returned to our (sc)h(m)otel for the evening. We wandered around a bit and found a nice little Indian vegetarian eatery with a really cool host / employee guy who helped us navigate the menu. We had some delicious dosas and a few other things whose names I've already forgotten. This is like a week and a half ago now... But, the food was great. Afterwards we went to find a market to get some water and snacks for the next day. We found a cool little place that was about as large as your kitchen and packed with something like 20 people at all times. We were picking things out when I stepped outside to check out the case of chocolate items in order to get my fix. In front of the case I found a young mother with her little boy (about 5) staring longingly at the case. It was pretty clear that he wasn't going to get anything out of it, so I'm not sure why Mom was letting him stare so long, but that's her decision. So, I asked him what he liked and found the language barrier to be pretty... well, neither of them spoke English at all and I don't exactly speak Hindi, so that was it. I think the Mom understood my intentions though, and tried to translate, but the little guy got a bit shy. I picked something for him and had the stuff included in our bag of groceries, then pulled it out for him on our way out. It was either simple shock or shyness, but he stood there clutching the thing and staring at it, which I took for satisfaction, and then we left. Sometime after that we turned in for the night so we'd be refreshed for the next day (this was our first night back in beds). We set the weirdness of the hotel situation aside and let the hum of nearby diesel generators lull us to sleep.
The next day we got up and hopped on the bus and headed straight to the Ajanta Caves, which are a bit farther out of Aurangabad and were the only thing on the schedule for that day. When we got out there we were told that our bus was leaving at 3:30pm, so we just figured we'd be back by then and then get out of town. We took a second bus (a green one, apparently, that is mandatory to exclude internal combustion engines from coming within about 5km of the caves), got out entry tickets, and headed inside. Our guide took us through several the of the caves, which are even more impressive than Ellora, if I do say so, then told us to take time on our own to see what others we wanted, but to head down the hill around 2:30pm. Something didn't add up... we verified that the bus was leaving at 3:30pm, and planned on being there for that. We ultimately figured out that he was trying to force people back down the hill with an hour of extra time so that they'd shop / fatten his commission earnings at the shops below the cave complex. So, we maximized our time up there, came down, then had to wait around for people who had screwed up the green bus connection and in the process cost us another 45 minutes while we waited for them. We also had to spend that time being harassed by shopkeepers, one of which appeared to think that we had established a casual friendship while he followed me around on the way in. He seemed genuinely hurt that I didn't want to visit his stall. Oh well.
Finally, we got out and on our way. We got back into Aurangabad and wandered around looking for internet access. We were told that there was none for another 45 mins. or so because of a power outage, then noticed how dark everything was. So, we hit up a small restaurant that was offering about 4% of what they had listed in their menu, had some bad "milk shakes," (in India this means milk + whatever flavor you choose, there is no ice cream or blending action), sat on the street a while, then got to the internet. We caught up there, then went back to the tasty restaurant from the night before to eat again before the next overnight bus. We had a nice short chat with the same guy after our meal, then collected our bags at the hotel and walked down the street to a patch of dirt with a bus and a hanging banner that confirmed it as the bus pickup point, and took a seat. When our bus arrived we climbed in, now familiar with the routine, reclined our seats (kind of mandatory, as everyone gets the same amount of space when everyone does this), and tried to sleep our way to Mumbai. Pretty uncomfortable, but we made it. The next morning we got back in early and just went straight back to our same hotel there, the Causeway, to check in. The guys in that place were really nice to us the whole time we were there and let us check in at about 7am. We got in, got a nap in a bed, then later showered up and headed out.
We started that morning with a meal at Leopold's, by now a big favorite of mine, then tried to go visit the Fort area, which I knew to be the starting point for the whole city from a little project I did back in school. We got a cab there but didn't have a specific landmark in mind, so we walked around and found some big walls (a prison, we think), a cruise terminal, some poop on the street, a sign pleading with locals to not "pass urine" on a street corner, and that was about it. I think we missed the mark... oh well. So, we got a cab back to Colaba and spent the afternoon shopping for souvenirs in the many hawker stalls along the Colaba Causeway. We had long chats with plenty of the guys, much to their enjoyment, I'm sure, and picked up a few things. We also took a McDonald's break for some Coke (my new addiction while traveling) and fries. I think we had dinner at the hummus place again that night, and the rest is a bit cloudy.
The next day we had a flight to Delhi to go see the Taj Mahal. Man... I waited too long to do this. Umm... I have forgotten something. The sequence of pictures will help me remember more later. I know we spent the morning in Mumbai, but I'm not sure how. In the afternoon, at least, we went to the airport to catch our flight. We took the short jump up to Delhi, got in, then caught a cab to the train station. We got our tickets (exceedingly cheap, bottom of the barrel class tickets) and spent a bit of time trying to figure out which train to get on. English was kind of sparse, so this took some work. While we were staring at signs, some monkeys came by to play on the overpass that crosses the tracks. There was an adorable little baby monkey clutching to its mother and a less attractive and kind of big male that was being taunted with a cup of water by a group of Indian guys. They filled it for him, he drank it with surprisingly human movements, then put it back down. At that point one guy in the group would stomp at him or shout, and the monkey would show its teeth and walk around slowly. I kept my distance, but enjoyed the show. Eventually we found an English speaker who told us to get on the same train as his, and we began the 4 hour ride to Agra. As the train pulled up we jumped in and fought for some decent seats (we'd been warned of this process in Shantaram), then settled in with our new pal and some other kids. Shortly after some guy in a uniform made all the men vacate and declared our car a "ladies only car." That left about 6 ladies in a whole car and men scrambling back and forth with bags held high, much to the amusement of the ladies. So, we settled in again. And then we were told to move again. We went back towards our original car, and after standing around, finally just sat down in a ladies car at the urgings of the local men. Several other guys followed suit and the uniform finally stopped barking at people, so that was how we spent the rest of the ride. When we got into Agra we were greeted by a vicious pack of tuk-tuk driver cheats who wanted to stick us in hotels. Ian had read about a good place on Trip Advisor, but one of these guys assured us it was "finished." We declined his services over and over but we were the only foreigners coming into the station that night so they were particularly relentless. Eventually a new guy showed up and offered the same fare as the best we could squeeze out of the first two guys, so we gladly took the business away from our assailants and placed it with the third guy. He found the hotel Ian read about, open for business by the way, and we checked in. It was a pretty nice place. There was some kind of extremely loud Arab festival happening nearby, but other than that it was solid. We ate in the hotel restaurant, which was really good and cheap, then slept. The next morning we got up nice and rested and walked down to the Taj east gate to survey the situation. We decided to wait until afternoon to go in so we could try to catch sunset, and started out with a meal at a little locals' place where our plates were continually replenished until we had to refuse any more food. We used the afternoon to go run by a garden and the Agra Fort and took tuk-tuks to get back and forth. I think those tuk-tuk rides were one of my favorite parts of India. They were incredibly hectic, with our driver narrowly avoiding livestock, bicyclists, pedestrians, all kinds of other vehicles, and many immobile objects to boot. Ian got some good video of one of the rides. Just gold. The fort was really cool and I wish we'd had more time there, but I could say that about most days and destinations I've been through. We made it to the Taj Mahal around 4:00pm and got in with plenty of time to enjoy it before they closed. It is definitely one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. It has a style of its own and is just an incredibly graceful, yet imposing, structure. The grounds are pretty as well, if a little unkempt. We spent several hours inside the complex before being kicked out with everyone else at closing time. When we left a tuk-tuk driver somehow talked us into going to a commission shop with him, which we ran through quickly, then took a ride back to the east gate (very close to our hotel). We actually ate dinner at the hotel restaurant again and had the exact same meal deal (huge portion), and loved it all over again. That night we slept away, then rose the next morning to go back to the Delhi airport - for Ian to head home and for me to head back to Mumbai to catch my next flight. We took the train again and spent a long ride chatting with a guy who called himself "Lucky." He was a genuinely nice kid in hotel management school who was happy to have the opportunity to chat with some foreigners. He and and other guy helped us get off at the right stop, and from there we took a cab to the airport. I realized as we were getting on the train that I hadn't allowed enough time to make my short flight back to Mumbai, so we were kind of rushing. Somehow we got there with an hour before takeoff, so Ian and I got out, said our goodbyes, then I rushed into the domestic terminal to take off. He had to take a second taxi to the international airport (a whole separate airport in Delhi), so he was working some guys over on cab fare as I left. Once i got inside I found the check in counter closed. Fortunately, the airport has people circulating in polo shirts with buttons that say, "Can I help you?" I flagged on down, discovered that my flight was canceled, then with his help got a change to the next flight. I looked for Ian outside but he was already long gone, so I had a quick bite and waited around. The next flight was delayed, so I ended up back in Mumbai pretty late. I decided to avoid taking a taxi all the way down to Colaba that night and just let the airport hotel booker guys set me up with a pretty cheap room that came with free transport to get there. The hotel, as they call it, turned out to be a dump that is literally steps from a major slum. They check in clerk guy had two very long finger nails - pinky and ring finger - on his left hand. He was a creepy little dude and I'm pretty sure he's moving something through that place other than tourists. The room was basically acceptable, so I took it, and hit the hay. The next morning I just wanted to get out of there, so I checked out, left my sunglasses somewhere unknown, then haggled with cab drivers to get back to Colaba. Once there I stored my bag at the good old Causeway Hotel, and went straight to Leopold's. I had a delicious breakfast / lunch, chatted with our original waiter a bit, then started talking with a girl (basket case) from Michigan who was in Mumbai doing research. She had been there for months on her own and wanted some American conversation / perspective on her failed relationship with a guy who she really, really does not belong with. I did what I could. It helped kill time, so that was nice. I spent the rest of the day eating and sitting around Colaba, then went back up to the airport to fly out to Thailand. I had a red eye flight (only 4 hours though) to Bangkok, so I loaded up and fell quickly asleep. A short while later I landed in Bangkok, but didn't even leave the airport. I had arranged to keep going and to fly directly to Chiang Mai, a hub in the northern piece of the country, the night before, so I did just that. Domestic flights are nice and cheap in Thailand, so booking 18 hours in advance was no problem at all. So, I landed in Chiang Mai late that morning and started my Thai adventure. I wanted to keep going to Chiang Dao - even a bit further north, so I decided to stay the afternoon in Chiang Mai and then take a bus later that evening to go to Chaing Dao. With such limited time in Chiang Mai, I had to choose my activities wisely. So, naturally, I went straight to a women's prison. To be continued...
posted by Matthew MacLeod @ 6:58 AM
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