Ajanta Caves: A Day Trip

We woke this morning refreshed and ready to roll. In fact, I woke up feeling at home for the first time in a long time. I had even forgotten that we had plans for the day.

After failing to find breakfast in Ellora we rode for a while before stopping, pointing at a wok and enjoying another couple of deep fried potato cakes in bread rolls along with the standard chai. The multipurpose chai did a great job at warming up Chris' frozen hands too. It is chilly here. Even with our wind proof jackets on we felt the bite of the weather.

It did warm up though and we found Ajanta Caves with little difficulty. When we had visited Ellora yesterday we had been surprised, and elated, to only be harassed by a few touts and wanna-be guides. It was actually quite pleasant. So when we arrived at Ajanta we were expecting a similar deal.

We quickly realised that in an attempt to make a buck, the Ajanta Caves people had blocked off the entire site forcing you to park your vehicle in their specified area. It was 5 rupees so we weren't too bothered. Yet. We went to pay but were instead asked for 25 rupees. Apparently that would cover the shuttle bus to get us from the carpark to the caves. Again...ok.

We were ambushed and hustled through a maze of shops selling everything from hats to torches to batteries as well as the usual Indian crappy souvenirs. We emerged dishevelled after fighting off salesmen who are very good at standing in your way, holding out whatever product they would like you to purchase.

We showed our tickets and went toward the bus. As we went to board we were stopped and asked for 40 rupees. Confused, I showed the man our "bus ticket" and he quickly pointed out that it was indeed an "amenity ticket" only. To cover the maintenance of the grounds. Not ok.

Washing

Yes, we realise that 40 rupees is the equivalent of less than a dollar. But it was the manner in which the whole process ran that bothered us. And, what bothered us more, was that it is so typical of India. We were asked for money at a bunch of different points for a bunch of different things. Never was there a sign to say that the money you spend will not actually get you to where they say it will get you. Quite the contrary. The only sign we saw was for the 5 rupee parking. We were annoyed. Annoyed by the man who told us the extra money we paid was for the bus. Annoyed that the additional bus fee we were being asked to pay was only one way. Annoyed that the site had been designed so that you, even if you wanted to walk the 4km to the site, could not pass through without paying an amenity fee and being funnelled through the darn markets. It was all about the money and not about the beauty of the site itself.

After riding 100km to reach Ajanta we refused to pay the 40 rupees for the bus and decided we didn't want to pay the 500 rupees it'd cost us to see the caves at all. Ancient frescoes? Meh. Who needs 'em?

Entrance to Ajanta

On our way to the Ajanta Caves parking area we had spotted a huge fort looking structure so we decided to spend our time exploring it instead. And boy were we pleased with our decision.

We rode through the huge fort gate and into the tiny village of Ajanta. Goats and pigs ruled the road, kids played, decaying houses were painted perfect pastel colours, every door to every home was wide open and people simply went about their day. Until we rode past of course...then everything stopped. And if we thought we had created a scene then we need only wait a few minutes to see real mayhem.

We parked the bike back outside the fort walls and decided to explore the village on foot. It's amazing the different ways people acknowledge and communicate with each other when a common language is not an option. An elderly man looked at me and whistled with his fingers in his mouth. I did the same, returning his whistle, his hello. I was rewarded with a grand old head wobble.

One child started following us. Then another. Then another. A mob formed. They smiled and laughed and followed us up and down the street demanding photos then money. When I turned it around on one of them and asked him for rupees, he pulled 10 out of his pocket. These kids were no real threat. Unlike the ones we had been told about in Nasik, working as a team to rob Westerners, these kids wanted a laugh, that was all.

Ajanta caves

We left the village and rode towards the Ajanta Caves viewpoint. We followed a sign five kilometres down a deserted road through tiny villages and cotton farms. Again, the animals ruled the road. When we arrived at the viewpoint, were the only ones there, had access to toilets and didn't have to pay a cent, we were pumped. We had glorious views of the horseshoe shaped gorge and the caves cut into the rock face from the point where to British had rediscovered the caves all those years ago.

We were directed down a large set of stairs which took us in the direction of the caves to yet another viewpoint which, during the monsoon, would be stunning. Today, the river was dry, the waterfall wasn't running and the glorious green landscape was dusty and brown. Still, a pretty marvellous site. We ventured down further and found ourselves heading straight for the caves. Could it be? Would we get in for free? Could we actually beat the system? No.

We got to within metres of the caves before being stopped at a gate by security asking for our tickets. Bugger. While we could have simply wandered around to the ticket office and bought tickets, we were happy with what we had seen already. And even happier that we had found a tiny area of quiet from which to view the normally noisy caves. Back up the mountain of stairs we went.

Road side lunch

We grabbed a delicious roadside lunch which included India's version of bruschetta: crispy papadams loaded up with chopped tomato, red onion, herbs and chilli powder. So good.

We rode back into Ellora about 3:30pm and settled in for a quiet afternoon of planning where we would head next. Rajasthan? Gujarat? Too many options.

 

Entrance in to Ajanta