[ARAY]

2017 has been very generous to the working community of India, approximately 9 long weekends. But 12th-15th August stretch was almost certainly the longest. So as a rule of thumb for travel crazy folks the preplanning started few weeks early. Hotel booking would be a main concern as travelholics are in abundance in this country. Unlike other cities, Hyderabad was little different and we had exhausted all the major and minor weekend gateways from the city.
My wife had never been to Ajanta and Ellora caves, she has been to Aurangabad more than once for business purpose. My kid on the other hand was about the same age when I visited Aurangabad in 1987. I had heard numerous stories about Ajanta and Ellora caves from my parents. I guess it was time to relive the reminiscences. My Mom joined us as a guide and as part of preplanning she started reading books, articles, documents to refresh some fond memories.
The plan was very simple, Drive - revive history – Drive. As I have mentioned in my previous posts A through research about the place you are visiting makes the journey and travel even more interesting.
I started researching about the route conditions. There was nothing in specific that laid out the plan. Every individual traveler has a unique pattern of travel or drive. I shall try my best to share the route details and visit sequence which might help fellow travelers.

Route details ( 12th-15th August 2017)
Day 1: Hyderabad – Nanded ( Via NH 161) , Average speed of 50kmph
Decent road, mostly two lane without dividers. Some triple humps near towns.

Stick to NH161 as long as possible, Google maps will try to help you but eventually misguide you onto rough patches.


Nanded – Aurangabad :
Nanded – Basmat Town (Bypass) – Watur – Jalna – Aurangabad , Average speed 52kmph.
Road conditions are not the best but I did this at night and therefore traffic was almost null.



Day 2: Aurangabad – Ajanta Caves.
Aurangabad-Phalumbri-Sillod-Wasai- Ajanta Caves. Average speed 49kmph. Last 20% has sharp curves and that brings down the average speed however Road condition is both excellent and scenic.



Please don't miss the View point of Ajanta Caves. https://goo.gl/maps/jXGS42LV2N22
Google Map image of Ajanta Caves.



Day: 3: In and around Aurangabad. Places we planned to Visit.
Ellora Caves, Grishneswar temple, Daulatabad Fort, Aurangabad Caves (Buddha Caves), Bibi ka Mukbara, Panchakki.



Day 4: Aurangabad - Lonar Crater Lake – Hyderbad .
Aurangabad – Lonar Crater Lake- Risod-Kalamnuri-Nanded- Hyderabad.



Google Map Imagery of Lonar Lake.


For a clear shot of the lake bypassing the trees along its brim, please visit the watch tower. Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) Guest house is also available for booking.
Address: Maharashtra State Highway 171, Patel Nagar, Lonar, Buldhana, Maharashtra 443302
Phone: 088063 63498



Lonar -Risod-Kalamnuri- Nanded
I chose to go all the way till Kalamnuri instead of Hingoli because Google map would divert you to a 82km stretch of bad and broken patch. Kalamnuri on the other hand sits on NH 161.


Nanded - Hyderabad



There is so much left to explore.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Maharashtra

Now that the critical part of the narration about the route used is done, lets get into the facts and figures of the trip.
This would be my second visit to Aurangabad and probably 10th entry into beautiful Maharashtra. However every time this state makes me fall in love with its terrain. A picture of Magnificent Maharashtra to set the mood right .

[ARAY]

Day-1

Like every other weekend drive this one was no different. After a full day at office we started the journey. Left from our house at Banjara Hills at 11:30 pm to avoid the truck traffic. In the blogs I read or posts I went through there was no mention of the routes being used by buses to ply between Hyderabad to Aurangabad. Upon searching Redbus I came to know about few operators. Since the number of operators was less bus traffic was not a concern. Especially for the Hyderabad –Bangalore route if you plan to start as late as 10pm the first 3-4 hours would be spent just dodging buses. Leaving the Mumbai Highway, NH65, behind we touched NH161 pretty late and there was negligible truck traffic. The road condition till Nanded was excellent, average speed is roughly 50kmph only because of curves. Reached Nanded at 4am, stopped for tea. Do note that after leaving NH65 from Hyderabad, Dhabas are sporadic. In fact 40kms from Hyderabad towards Mumbai Highway would be last descent Family Dhaba as per August 2017. The drive from Nanded to Aurangabad was in the wee hours. The LEDs setup of the duster shone yet again. On roads with lots of curves night driving becomes a lot easy, the light from oncoming traffic warns you.

An Early morning shot.


It had rained in the valley last night and the smell was enchanting to say the least. Patrichor is the scent of the environment after rain. The plants produce surplus oxygen during photosynthesis, which is most prominent right after they are watered. During morning, there is morning mist. This contributes to increase photosynthesis, increase oxygen output, and the scent of fresh plant.
I have friends and family members who find it very absurd as to why do I need to put in the extra effort to drive to the tourist destination. To be frank I have no words to define the pleasure of being so close to nature. After all its the journey that matters the most, destinations can change.

We had four days at our disposal with no strict plan. We were taking it easy, stopping by for some pictures every few kilometers. Halted for breakfast, it was time for some MH delicacy at a restaurant en route. I became a fan of Pav bhaji long back on the first Mumbai trip.


Meanwhile Bong Duster was calmly enjoying the great weather.


We reached Treebo Sonia at 11:45am. Treebo Sonia was not the greatest of Treebo hotels I have stayed in. This one is not an apartment converted to hotel, instead was a hotel that merged under the Treebo hotel chains. We had booked two rooms and they were spacious. The staff was courteous and helpful. One glitch I found was this Hotel was just besides a restaurant(Naivedya Thali) which was probably run by the same owner. That restaurant unfortunately only serves veg Thalis and thats their speciality. The thali was good but we were not ready to have thalis for next 3 days. On exploring a bit around the neighborhood we came to know of few restaurants that were rated decently . Moreover there was a mall named ProZone very close to where we stayed.
After a quick lunch we thought of sleeping for a couple of hours and then visiting Bibi ka Mukbara. By the time we woke up it was past 7pm and the Mukbara had closed for the day. Headed for Prozone mall. It had a descent parking space with lots of empty spaces. It was not heavily crowded like other malls but saw adequate number of shops rented out and all of them open.




A scale model of the mall is kept at the entrance.


We finished Dinner at the food court and dragged ourselves to the Hotel. We were dead tired and called it a day.

[ARAY]

Day-2

We started for Ajanta caves. The caves were roughly 100kms from the hotel. A point that I would like to mention is Ajanta Caves remains closed for tourists every Monday and Ellora Caves remain closed on Tuesday. You could use the URL for quick reference and for asking any questions. http://ajantacaves.com/helpline/postquery.asp?Id=0

Road conditions on the way to Ajanta Caves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOa2...ature=youtu.be

To set the mood right for the narration, here is a picture of Great Buddha. The statue depicts peace and calmness. Even though the place and the caves were heavily crowded, if you are able to spend even a few seconds inside a cave alone, you would be held back with astonishment complementing the craftsmanship. There is an enormous amount of pride that fills you up of having such beautiful things in your own country. Taking a clear picture is tough but if you give enough time its possible. I used extra long exposure times with very low ISO settings to nullify the moving crowd.


Here is map from the book that were sold by vendors nearby.

The Book for reference. A colourful guidebook of Ajanta Ellora_.pdf

History of Ajanta Caves
Ajanta consists of 29 Buddhist caves (some unfinished), the greatest achievement of rock-cut architecture in India. The caves are clearly numbered from 1 to 29, moving east to west. The caves at Ajanta have served as the reference point for Indian architectural and artistic endeavors throughout the centuries. Further, the styles initiated at Ajanta went on to influence cultures outside of India, as Buddhism migrated out of India via the Silk Road to Central Asia, China and Southeast Asia.
The caves clearly show the construction being done in two phases. Early and Late phase.
Ajanta’s oldest caves date from the 2nd-1st centuries BC under the Satavahana dynasty.
Caves 9 and 10 are Buddhist Shrine halls. Caves 8, 12, 13 and 15A are Buddhist Monasterys. All of these caves are associated with the Theravada school of Buddhism. The position for these early excavations offered monks close propinquity to an ancient trade route that connected the Satavahana capital in Pratishtana (modern Paithan, just south of Aurangabad) with trade ports on India’s western coast and cities in Northern India. Later under the Vakataka dynasty’s King Harisena, likely from 460-478AD, with Harisena’s death, and the ensuing collapse of the Vakataka dynasty’s control of the region, creation at the site abruptly stopped at the end of the 5th century. These caves are coupled with the Mahayana school of Buddhism.

I tried to record the narration by our guide, they really know their stuff very well. Here is a summary of the caves.
Cave 1.A Late Phase Buddhist Monastery, Cave 1 has the most dynamic, best-preserved paintings in Ajanta.
Cave 2.It has good reliefs (in the secondary shrines) and premium paintings all the way through.
Cave 4.The largest in Ajanta, Cave 4 has imposing reliefs.
Cave 9.Excavated in the Early Phase, Cave 9 is the simplest Buddhist Shrine in Ajanta.
Cave 10.It sets in motion exemplary Buddhist forms that would go on to persuade all future architecture — Buddhist, Hindu and Jain alike — in India. An Early Phase Buddhist Shrine, likely the first excavated cave in Ajanta, Cave 10 offers a trademark Theravada Stupa, detailed reliefs and deteriorated Early Phase paintings.
Cave 16.A Late Phase Buddhist Monastery, Cave 16 has its original entrance stairway (unique in Ajanta) and a few super paintings.
Cave 17.A Late Phase Buddhist Monastery, Cave 17 has a great collection of paintings; those that remain on the exterior pillared gallery are particularly interesting, as they can be inspected in the full
Cave 19.A Late Phase Buddhist Shrine, Cave 19 has a highly decorated facade, in contrast to the plain facades of Early Phase Buddhist Shrines, this is consistent with the move from Theravada to Mahayana Buddhism. Inside, there is a fully intact Stupa (the only one remaining with its triple umbrella (Chattra).
Cave 26.A Late Phase Buddhist Shrine, Cave 26 is the most stunningly decorated Buddhist Shrine at Ajanta. With an complex facade and detailed all-over reliefs on the interior, it represents the conclusion of the Buddhist Shrine style begun nearly 700 years before.

Few pictures of the landscape.




Flash is strictly not allowed, long exposure is.
I used a Canon 70D with settings as follows - ISO 800, F8, Shutter 1/2 second - 5 second. EV -1.


The Pillars at the caves were unique with inscriptions dated as early as 800 years ago. Its said the pillars have different resonance and acoustic identities.








A lot of effort has been put by the authorities to preserve the paintings. Mom pointed out that the blue colours have faded to a great extent in the last 30 years.
Here is good link for exploring further on the efforts being made by Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to preserve the paintings. http://www.frontline.in/static/html/fl1523/15230650.htm

Most of the caves are massive. Link to cave dimensions from ASI : http://asi.nic.in/asi_monu_whs_ajanta_caves.asp

Few pictures of the caves.










Statue of Buddha standing.


Cave 26 is actually multifaceted ,a large Caitya hall and two side Viharas . According to the inscription, these caves were donated by a monk named Buddhabhadra. The complete portico of Cave 26 is covered in Buddhas and related images, many of which were probably added after Buddhabhadra's association with the cave. This spread out of imagery indicates regular use and popularity of the cave. The Cave 26 complex had a large courtyard, linking the right and left wings to the main cave. The facade may have originally been more elaborate as well, with a deep porch (the cliff has crumbled away).







Chaityas are Buddhist prayer halls that house a Stupa. The word Chaitya has its roots in sanskrit chita meaning a pyre or a pile of ashes. The ancient rock-cut buddhist caves of Ajanta were built during the 2nd century BC to 6th century AD. All these caves and sculptures are engraved out of the rocky hills of Ajanta. They start carving from top of the hill and reach the bottom, and hence do not make use of scaffolds for support.


Architecturally, chaityas show similarity to ancient Roman architectural concepts of column and arch. The monks built many structures which were imprinted out of a single enormous rock, done with hammer and chisel, bare hands. These were known as cave temples. About 1200 such cave temples were built all over India. The most important of these are the Karla Caves, Ajanta Caves, Ellora Caves, Udayagiri and Khandagiri Caves, Aurangabad Caves and the Pandavleni Caves. They were rectangular halls, with sophisticated interior walls. There were a number of well balanced pillars, generally around 35, and a semi-circular roof. Opposite one entrance stood a Stupa.

Notice the change in design of the Stupa structures, pointing to the evolution of Buddhism.




Few points for travelers. Ajanta caves remain closed on Monday. Buses leave for the cave from the parking lots below, personal vehicles are not allowed beyond that. The queue for the buses get pretty long. The frequency of returning buses decrease post 5pm so plan your journey accordingly and leave before 4pm to avoid the rush. Caves 1-29 takes roughly 3-4 hours but it depends on individual's taste. The landscape is filled with Historical facts and the guides do an excellent work explaining. I would request every one to hire guides, not because the narrate very well, which they do, but its their means of living.

Left for for the hotel after some shopping near the parking space. My Mom was astonished to see such a drastic change in the area. The day was very well spent soaking in the vastness amidst the rich culture and history of the place. Stopped by for Himroo sari shopping which depicts the history of Ajanta caves in art form.
Himroo has peculiar use of bold patterns and colours. Formerly made with the mix of cotton and silk, gives a look and feel of satin cloth, thus making Himroo a perfect choice for shawls and stoles. Fruit patterns are also used which mainly are of pineapples, almonds and more. Some interlocking patterns are also followed with designs of flowers, animals, leaves are commonly used. Reached hotel around 8:30pm had dinner at Hotel grand Kailash which was at walking distance from the hotel.

[ARAY]

Day-3

It was all dedicated for Aurangabad.
Places we planned to visit : Ellora Caves, Grishneswar temple, Daulatabad Fort, Aurangabad Caves (Buddha Caves), Bibi ka Mukbara, Panchakki.


We started early and reached Ellora around 9am. Reaching early is not always a good thing, will tell you all why, later.
Crowd was starting to pour in slowly. Parked the car at the same parking spot from where the buses leave.


History of Ellora Caves.
The 34 caves at Ellora — positioned 30 kilometers northwest of Aurangabad and 350 kilometers northeast of Mumbai — are spread out over 2.2 kilometers along a north-south running escarpment, for the most part, caves face westward. Ellora was sited on an ancient trade route that associated the interior part of Maharashtra with trade ports on India’s western coast and cities in India’s north. Starting with the imposing British era scholarship on Ellora caves, the overlapping styles of artwork flanked by the Buddhist, Hindu and Jaina caves have led to many different chronology proposals.

A view of the Ellora caves. (cave 30-34)


The Buses after entering the premises would go first to caves 30-34 (The Jain monuments: Caves 30-34).They were mostly excavated in the ninth and early tenth centuries, and belong to the Digambara sect. They present extraordinarily detailed art works. They were collaborated with the later era Hindu caves at Ellora, and both share architectural and devotional ideas such as pillared veranda, symmetric mandapa and places for worship.
Cave 32: The Indra Sabha Jain temple is historically noteworthy as it contains confirmation of active worship inside by the Jain population, in the form of coated deposits and textual records. Rituals were held in the upper level, the images were worshiped, and the artwork in this temple were the focus of these rituals and celebrations.
Cave 30: Chotta Kailasha, it features two larger-than-life size reliefs of dancing Indra, wearing ornaments, a crown and has multiple arms (8 arms in one, 12 arms in the other).
Cave 33:The Jagannatha Sabha, it is the second largest Jain cave at Ellora.Twelve massive pillars and elephant heads projecting towards the porch, all carved out a single rock.

Few images of the sculptures in caves 30-34.






Some pictures of the Cave from outside.






A structure that reminded me that I had been to this place earlier.


Sculpture depicting a war.




The rocks clearly say that it was a mammoth task carving a cave out of single rock.


Then came the Cave # 16, the most famous among them all. The Kailash or Kailasanatha temple is one of the largest rock-cut ancient Hindu temples located in Ellora. The Kailasanatha temple (Cave 16) is one of the 32 cave temples and monasteries known collectively as the Ellora Caves. Its construction is generally attributed to the 8th century Rashtrakuta king Krishna 1.

Few Images of the spectacular artwork.










Found this little guy nesting at the cave.


These pictures are not doing justice to the beauty of the place.












After the last cave we decided to head back for the parking lot. On reaching the parking lot I was disappointed.
This is how I left the car when I arrived early in the morning.


When I came back there were cars parked haphazardly, highly mismanaged parking lot. I had roughly 3 feets at the front and 1 feet at the back to take out the car.
In the heat of the moment missed taking a picture of the chaotic parking lot. But the red lines show where the cars were parked. The yellow passage was my only way out. Blue was the other way but involved too much effort. The white arrow shows the height was roughly more than 1/2 foot.


Me: Oh man we will get super late for kiddo's lunch.
Wife : Why did we even get an AWD.
Me :
Wife: kiddo is getting cranky and will start to cry soon.
Me: Engaged 4wd Lock ( maybe auto would have done the trick too) and drove over the dividers all the way to the EXIT of the parking.

Moral of the story, please be careful while parking at Ellora, try and park near the exit gates. There is a lack of parking management, private vehicles and cab owners park without thinking of the consequences. However Bong Duster saved the day yet again.

The Grishneswar temple is at a very close proximity to the parking lot. My kid was already asleep after a sumptuous lunch. I decided to stay back with him in the car. Grishneshwar temple, sometimes referred to as the Ghrneshwar Jyotirlinga or Dhushmeshwar temple, is one of the 12 Jyotirlinga shrines. The Grishneswar temple is an illustration of south Indian temple architectural style and structure. The temple, built of red rocks, is composed of a five tier shikara. The temple was re-constructed by Maloji Bhosale of Verul, (grandfather of Shivaji) in the 16th century and later again by queen Ahilyabai Holkar in the 18th century. She is credited with rebuilding some of major Hindu temples such as the Kashi Vishvanath temple in Varanasi, a Vishnu temple in Gaya, and a much larger Shiva Jyotirlinga temple in Somnath.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grishneshwar

We started for Daulatabad fort which was located 18kms from Ellora caves. Daulatabad Fort is a 12th century fortress built by Raja Bhillamraj once known as 'Devgiri', Initially a Yadav stronghold, it passed through the hands of several dynasties in the Deccan. When Muhammad Tughlak ascended the Delhi throne, he was so elated by the fortress that he decided to move his court and capital there, renaming it Daulatabad, "the City of Fortune". He ordered the entire population of Delhi to move out to the new capital.
Daulatabad Fort, a rock-hewn fortress dominating the landscape, from a 600 feet high mesa-like flat terrain, is 14 kilometer away from Aurangabad City. The moat a 40feet deep rut with mechanical drawbridges were filled with crocodiles.
Exploring Daulatabad fort with a small kid is very tough and the terrain does not help either. Carry a lot of water.


The Chand Minar is a tower 210 ft (64 m). high and 70 ft (21 m). in circumference at the base, and was originally covered with beautiful Persian glazed tiles. It was erected in 1445 by Ala-ud-din Bahmani to commemorate his capture of the fort.

[ARAY]

Day-3

After an excruciating exploration of Daulatabad fort we decided to go for BiBi ka Mukbara. It was commissioned by the sixth Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in the late 17th century in the memory of his first wife, Dilras Banu Begum.






Found some ignored structures on the way to Bibi Ka Muqbara.


Beautiful roads all the way till Ellora.


No parking at Bibi Ka Maqbara


Special mention, the best Zia Maize I have had ever.


It was pretty late and was getting dark when we reached Aurangabad cave. They allowed us for a short while but it was too dark to take any clear shots. Same was for Panchakki. From Panhakki we headed for the ProZone mall, had dinner and headed back to the hotel.

[ARAY]

Day-4


Aurangabad-Hyderabad.

We were skeptical to drive till Lonar Crater Lake. Did some research and found that the place has a lot to tell about itself. Incredibly old at 50,000 years, the Lonar crater is the youngest and best preserved impact crater formed in basalt rock and is the only of its kind on earth.Fringed by a lush jungle, the lake’s surroundings are peppered with fragments of minerals like maskelynite, and centuries-old abandoned temples that are now inhabited only by insects and bats.A land-locked water body which is alkaline and saline at the same time, the Lonar Lake supports micro-organisms rarely found elsewhere on earth. According to NASA, this material’s presence and the crater’s situation in volcanic basalt makes Lonar a good analogue for impact craters on the surface of the Moon.The crater was formed fifty-two thousand years ago, when a blazing ball of fire (a meteor that weighed over one million ton in deadweight) crashed into the earth at an estimated speed of 90,000 km per hour. Lonar Lake is an incomparable biodiversity and a wildlife sanctuary with a unique ecology that is vastly different from the surrounding flat landscape.The impact gouged a deep depression (1.8 km wide and 150 m deep) before erupting and spewing molten rock to create a magnificent crest on the rim. Over time, the jungle took over, and a perennial stream transformed the crater into a tranquil, emerald green lake. There are a few watchtowers all over the lake, I would suggest visiting one of them for a magnificent view.


There is an old school, now converted to a guest house few minutes after crossing the village. The owner was very knowledgeable and shared a lot of history about the place. To our astonishment the place had few foreigners. On speaking with them I came to know that there are around 1200 species of birds that migrate during December to January. The reason was the high sulfur content of the water that gave life to magnetic algae, with very high protein content. Resident and migratory birds such as black-winged stilts, brahminy ducks, grebes, shelducks (European migrants), shovellers, teals, herons, red-wattled lapwings, rollers or blue jays, baya weavers, parakeet hoopoes, larks, tailorbirds, magpies, robins and swallows are found on the lake. Among reptiles, the monitor lizard is reported to be prominent. The lake is also home to thousands of peafowls, chinkara and gazelles.

We had to park outside the gate of the School. It was half a minute stroll to the school from where the view was extraordinary too.




This was the angle from where the crater had hit the earth's surface.




A picture of the School converted to Guest house.


It was 15th August and the Indian Flag was flying in all its glory at the School premises.


Road to Lonar Lake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIkv...ature=youtu.be

We decided to have lunch at the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) which was very close.
Headed for Risod- Kalamnuri- Nanded- Hyderabad.
The return journey was equally wonderful.




Finally a through wash of the Bong Duster back at home.



To sum it up, it was a great experience. Road conditions were average with a mix of good and bad patches. A vehicle with adequate ground clearance can do the job easily.
Although I have tried to share whatever I could remember or gather but the places have elaborate stories to tell about themselves. The places deserve a visit at least once. Also do note the paintings at Ajanta has brought people from all over the world together and unfortunately they are slowly fading away into abyss.
I hope I was able to share my experience with you folks and the details help fellow members.

[aah78]

Note from Support: Thread moved to the Travelogues section. Thanks for sharing!

[shansundar]

Excellent write up ! Very detailed. Beautiful photographs. I love the way you have utilised sky as a background. Great taste and thanks for sharing the ISO an shutter speed details. I am a novice in photography. What do you mean by nullifying the crowd and how does decreasing shutter speed help that.

[livetodrive]

This trip was in my wish list when I was working in Pune. Could not make it however. But your travelogue and superb photography compensates that loss Keep writing such beautiful journeys.

[GPS5441]

Very detailed and informative write up. I have lived in Pune for 7 years and use to travel to Aurangabad almost every month but never thought of visiting this historic place

[PapaBravo]

Fantastic Aray. You are on fire. You have a perfect companion in Bong Duster for all the extended weekend trips. You logs can be used as a guide for anyone planning roadtrips out of Hyderabad. I have never been too this place but had a virtual tour through your travelogue. I was seeing your photos on the social network sites & envying the weather you got. We were on a trip as well on the same weekend, but it was not so smooth. Well, more on that when I write a TL on that.

I am sure getting out of the parking jumping dividers would have made you smile.

Keep travelling & keep writing

Regards,

Pawan

[SajiNSalin]

Great travelogue with a fantastic Duster AWD. Did you use the AWD anytime during your drive? I have one and look for moderately difficult roads to use the Auto and sometimes 4WD. Did you face issues with the GPS getting stuck and then responding after sometime. I face this problem and sometimes it gets stuck when I need it most.

[Samba]

There is nothing new to write about your travelogues. They are always well described with amazing pictures. This one is no different.

Am not a kind of a guy, who is much interested in history! From my school i used to get bored in History classes and for that you can always blame my poor memory or lack of interest in history! Nevertheless recently i successfully visited most of the Forts in Rajasthan and penned downed a travelogue on that too!
Disclaimer : My wife has done history honours and she loves to visit Historical places! She loved reading this travelogue.

The most exciting part of this travelogue for me was the Lonar crater lake part.

[romyeo4u]

Great travelogue with superb photos, one question though, why didn't you opt Hyderabad-Nizamabad-Nanded? it's a breeze till Nizamabad.