[mpksuhas]

Ajanta caves ctd.























































Just like in Ellora, there is a waterfall across the caves path here too. However, it was dry since its summer.







It's not just the water that falls -






Conservation work is ongoing in few caves -








We reach towards end of the caves -

[mpksuhas]

We set our sights on next two destinations, Ajanta middle view point and upper view point.

The read gazebo, which is familiar by now is the middle viewpoint and the hill in the background with mobile tower and a smaller distant gazebo is upper view point.

You can see the steps required to reach the viewpoint in the picture.





Ajanta Middle view point

Location


To reach middle viewpoint, we need to take exit near cave 9 and cross a steel bridge. Even if you are not planning of visiting middle viewpoint, would suggest you to take this route to exit the caves complex.




This way, you can avoid climbing down the steep steps near ticket counter. Also, this gives a different view of the cave complex.

We take the steel bridge across the dry river bed.



One final look at caves before we head off




Walkway on other side of the river





The climb is bit steep





However, views from the top are great.

This place is exactly opposite to the dry waterfall we saw near the caves, it would be great to watch waterfall from here during rainy season.









Panoramic picture from mobile








Video of the same

Ajanta Middle View point

The walkway from middle viewpoint toward upper view point. Upper view point is visible in the background.





I head back down after few minutes and join the walkway near iron bridge and head towards exit.





We cross another iron bridge and reach near ticketing counter. Caves are visible at a distance from here too -



There is a clean restroom and MTDC restaurant near ticket counter. We decide to have lunch here.




Food was good and service was fast. Once out, we take another shuttle bus back to parking.


Car which was parked in sun for half day was too hot to get into -





We start from parking lot at 02:39 PM towards Upper view point.

[mpksuhas]

Upper view point - Ajanta


Location

For reaching view point from Ajanta parking, one needs to drive towards Aurangabad on the highway crossing town of Ajanta.

Soon after Ajanta town, you need to take deviation to your right.


Place where you need to take deviation to your right



Once you take deviation, it is a village road but in good condition.





View point is around 21 KM's from Ajanta parking lot, we reach here at 03:06 PM.




There is a huge parking lot and MTDC restaurant here, however restaurant is closed due to lack of tourists.





View point next to restaurant




The place is empty apart from few parked bikes, a lone KA registration card (apart from ours) and few vendors selling fancy items.




There is a footpath which goes towards middle viewpoint which we visited earlier.

This is the same route which British officer John K Smith took when he discovered the caves during a hunting expedition in 1819. Though the caves was known to locals, it was overgrown by forest and unknown to outsiders.

John K Smith scribbled / vandalised cave 10 by his name as a mark of discovering the same.

Later around 1857, just before first war of Indian independence, Asiatic society requested British government for funds to replicate the cave paintings.

Though the funding was delayed due to Independence struggle, few years down it was sanctioned. This body is the forefather of what is Archaeological Survey of India.

You can read a more detailed history on the same here.








We spend around 10 minutes here and start at 03:16 to Aurangabad. We reach hotel at 05:10 PM.

We head directly to hotel restaurant for couple of glass of juice and then stock up on our packaged juice collection from DMart nearby.

[mpksuhas]

14- March - 2018

Today is our buffer day, our plan for this day is to visit places in Aurangabad. Since this involves drive around town, we decided to take a Ola rental instead of driving around.

I take their 4 hours / 40 KM package for Rs 750 (807 inclusive of taxes). Cab reaches our hotel at 08:30 AM when we have finished our breakfast. The vehicle is a Swift Dzire, maintained well.

We first head to Aurangabad caves.



Aurangabad Caves


Location

The caves are further down the road from Bibi Ka Makbara, caves are located in two groups. We first head to the east group of caves.

The place is empty apart from another tourist. The place is run by ASI and there is a ticket counter here.

View of ticket counter and parking lot





Panoramic photo from mobile











Caves are smaller in dimension and in dilapidated condition. ASI blames this on the rocks in this location, as per ASI website, this location was not ideal for making a cave due to brittle rocks. Due to this few caves were abandoned during construction and others were not excavated due to the same.














Bibi Ka Makbara seen at a distance





View from the topmost cave








Once done, we head to the western cluster of caves. This place is marked as Buddha caves in Google maps. This cluster is around half KM from parking lot of easter cluster.

Location



Parking lot and ticket counter. You need not take separate ticket here, instead use the same ticket purchased at other cluster for entry.






Unlike the other cluster, this has few stairs to climb











The caves

















Kudos to ASI for this signage. However, we can only hope they implement this. Reason for saying, on many ASI maintained sites in name of religion the entire place is messed up.

We noticed the same in Daulatabad fort, where a beautiful statue was defaced by gaudy color and an ASI employee who is supposed to preserve the place is indulging in collection of alms.





It takes around 15 minutes to see the place and we head back to taxi. We head to Panchakki next.

[mpksuhas]

Panchakki


Location


The place is a 17th century mosque complex which houses a dargah and a flour mill operated by a water powered turbine.

Water for this is channeled through an underground pipe from a distance 6 KM away.




Parking space is limited, you need to park next to the blue Ciaz in this picture. However, the place wasn't crowded, so I guess if you are coming in morning it won't be an issue.













The turbine which powers the mill





Mill, it's not used anymore. It is run only for tourist purpose.



There is a small pond next to the mill and few shops






We head towards the dargah.




Ladies are not allowed inside the dargah





Inside the dargah






Next to the dargah is on display few items used by the sufi saint Baba Shah Musafir.








Our visit is done in around 20 minutes. Our initial plan was to head to Daulatabad fort in the same cab, however Ola rental (different from Ola Outstation) has a limitation.

For Ola rental, the route should be only in place which is covered by Ola. Since Daulatabad fort is out of Aurangabad by around 18Km's, it is mentioned as an area not covered by Ola. Hence the cab driver refuses to go there.

Ola outstation was becoming too expensive, so we decided to head for shopping area inside Aurangabad and then later in evening, head to Daulatabad in our own car.


We usually do not indulge in any major shopping during our trips, however with free time we head to a saree shop which was suggested by cab driver. Many of the other shops were not open and cab driver mentioned it may be past 11:00 AM when they open.


Mughal Silk Store


Location








The place had descent collection of sarees and after a quick purchase we head back to hotel.

It is 11.25 AM, we rest for a while and then have lunch from inhouse restaurant.

We start to Daulatabad fort at 03:46 PM.

[mpksuhas]

Daulatabad Fort

Location

Fort is located around 20 KM's from Aurangabad, we reach fort parking at 04:25 PM.




There is sufficient parking space at fort




Fort is open 06:00 AM to 06:00 PM

























Moat surrounding the fort








Climb to the top of the fort is steep. Since it was evening, heat was not an issue. Still you end up thirsty after a while. Carrying lots of water helped for us.

View towards top of fort from start




There are few sections which had tricky routes. However, all along you have proper steps.






Since it was getting late, we climbed non stop till the top. Setting sun had painted the fort in a warm hue.



















There is a citadel on top of the fort





I reach top of the fort by 04:57 PM, about half hour climb from bottom. However, if you are climbing at a leisurely pace, it will take around 1 hour of climb.


View from top










You can see the car parked in parking lot at a distance






Road to Ellora caves is visible from the top

[mpksuhas]

Daulatabad fort continued

We head back leisurely now that the climb is done before sunset.

The minaret adjoining the mosque





Empty courtyard of the temple inside the fort complex







Final look before we head off




Outside the fort, near the ticket counter we see this




It is 06:10 PM, we were able to complete the fort visit in 1 hour 45 minutes thanks to non stop climb. However, if you are doing the same at a leisurely pace, do budget atleast 1.5 hours for the climb and another 45 minutes for seeing around the fort.


We start to hotel from the fort, next to hotel there is a HP COCO bunk, hence we decide to top up from there even though tank is more than half full. My idea was to skip filling till I cross to KA after this.

Location


One thing I noticed about Aurangabad bunks is that, two wheelers will come to fill fuel only for smaller amounts. I noticed many riders filling for Rs 20 & Rs 30. This means there is a huge rush at bunks.




We reach hotel at 07:00 PM

[mpksuhas]

15- March - 2018

After having breakfast from hotel, we checkout and start to Pune at 09:06 AM.

There was moderate traffic till Waluj, however past that road was almost empty.

Lilium Park enroute looked like a good stopover point, however since we had breakfast before starting we didn't stop here.

Location





At 11:00 AM we reach Ahmednagar, based on earlier reports that bye-pass is in bad condition, we continue through the town.

However, at a narrow section in the town next to a junction, a tourist bus had stopped for some reason. This has caused a huge jam which took more than 10 minutes to cross.

At Ahmednagar, we saw this Jeep Compass being tested, not sure what the variant is.





Past Ahmednagar, we stopped at Smile Stone for a 5 minute bio-break.

Location





Soon after this, as we reach Karegaon, traffic increased substantially and from here till Pune we had heavy traffic.


We decide to stop at Aga Khan Palace soon as we enter Pune since its enroute to our hotel.

[mpksuhas]

Pune sightseeing

We reached Aga Khan palace at 01:21 PM.


Aga Khan palace

Location

There is huge parking lot at the palace and it wasn't that crowded.




Ticket counter




The place strangely doesn't allow photography through camera. However, you are free to take pictures using mobile phones.


Historically, the palace is significant since this is the place where Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned for two years. Also, during the imprisonment, Kasturba Gandhi passed away and was cremated in the palace campus.

This is an impressive building and houses few personal belongings of its Mahatma Gandhi & Kasturba Gandhi.

Few pictures from mobile -












We are done viewing the palace by 02:05 PM and proceed to our hotel.




7Apples hotel Pune


Location


We had booked at 7Apples hotel in Pune too, similar to Aurangabad. Though we were very happy with their Aurangabad branch, the Pune branch didn't leave us impressed.


They have taken an old hotel and renovated it, however the renovation is not able to hide its downsides.

We reach hotel at 02:40 PM.


The room is decently spacious, however corridors are congested and bathroom looks bit outdated.


They have sufficient parking space and serve decent breakfast too. However, there are other hotels in similar rates in this locality. I would be trying those out if its required to stay in this area again.

Road to hotel




Entrance and parking area




Corridor





Room





Bathroom






Soon after check-in, we catch an Uber cab and head to German bakery for a late lunch.


It had started drizzling by now.



German Bakery

Location


Thankfully drizzle stops by time we reach bakery, we have a heavy lunch. We need to meet a friend for dinner, apart from that there is nothing much planned for today. So we decide to walk to National war memorial nearby.

[mpksuhas]

Pune Sightseeing ctd


National War Memorial


Location

The memorial has few gallery mentioning about war history of area under command of Southern command.


Also, it has a collection of arms, howitzers, tanks, armoured carriers & medals.






























Also, we were able to witness lowering of flag ceremony.











Infamous Phaton tank




From here, we head to meet our friend for dinner.

[mpksuhas]

16 - March - 2018


We do not have any agenda for today. We had few points of interest inside Pune town which we wanted to cover. Infact during planning, today was kept aside for visit to Mahindra Chakan factory visit.

Mahindra organizes factory visit for XUV owners on random basis, since we were to be in Pune, I had tried contacting Mahindra on the same. However, after the initial positive responses from all the contact channels, I later got a response that the visit would not be feasible the time I am asking for and they will consider my request later.

I doubt it was due to the new upcoming XUV, since the vehicle is not officially launched may be they don't want anyone to get a preview of the same in factory.

Hence we decide to spend this day roaming around Pune. Again, our mode of transport is Ola / Uber cabs.



After breakfast from hotel, we head to Halwai temple.



Dagdusheth Ganpati Temple / Halwai Temple

Location

The temple is located in a crowded street. Hence if you are driving down, getting parking will be tough. Temple however, was not that crowded.

The temple is located next to another tourist location - Shaniwar Wada. However, we didn't visit Shaniwar Wada.


Once visiting temple was done, we walked to nearby Kaka Halwai shop.

Location


The temple was constructed by erstwhile owner of this shop. We do some sweet shopping from here for our return to Bangalore.






Once this done, we head to Okayama Friendship garden. However, on reaching there we found out that the place will be open only at 04:00 PM.


From here we head to Cafe Good luck for lunch.

Place was crowded, however we were able to get seat soon. After this, we head to Camp area for some shopping.


Past that we stopped at Marz-O-rin for snacks and then head back to our hotel.

[mpksuhas]

17 - March - 2018

This is the last day of our trip. We start from our hotel at 06:04 AM, it takes us around 20 minutes to get on to NH 4 Pune - bye-pass.

This was a long weekend and there was considerable traffic out of Pune. Infact, all along till almost Kolhapur we had heavy traffic. Our first stop was for breakfast at Hotel Sai International.

Hotel Sai International

Location

Since there was traffic, my initial idea was to continue past Kolhapur and stop for breakfast so as to avoid rush. However, since it was getting late for breakfast we stopped here. We reached here at 09:12 AM.


In hindsight it was a good move since the traffic was almost same when we started after breakfast and also this hotel turns out to be good.

Service is fast, food descent and they have one of the most clean restrooms I have seen in any highway hotels. However, the cost is slightly on higher side.




We start from the restaurant at 09:42 AM, our next stop is at BP COCO bunk at Nipani. Location.

After filling up diesel, we start at 10:30 AM from here. We cross Belgaum at 11:25 AM and Dharward byepass at 12:08 PM.

Our usual lunch stop in this route is Kamat next to IOC COCO bunk. Have felt that food here is better than other Kamat's, also the place is next to COCO bunk, hence you can fuel up also in one stop. Another advantage, its on same side of the road while driving to Bangalore.


However, thanks to late breakfast we were not feeling hungry. Hence we decide to stop later and head to Apoorva resorts soon after Davanagere.

Location

This turns out to be a mistake thanks to extremely slow service. I had stopped here for breakfast during earlier trips and had not felt this. We reached here at 02:14 PM and ordered lunch right away, however by time we get food and bill is settled its 03:09 PM.

Another bigger issue is, the hotel comes on right side while driving to Bangalore. Hence it requires you to drive couple of KM's towards Bangalore to get a place where you can take U turn.

There is road widening ongoing just before Chitradurga.





Soon we enter 6 lane Chitradurga - Tumkur road.





Apart from messed up toll booths which slow Fastag lanes, things were fine till Tumkur.




We crossed VRL depot past Chitradurga at 03:50 PM and Nelamangala toll booth at 05:49 PM.


As we neared Bangalore, traffic was heavy. No one is happy in traffic.





We get on to NICE road Tumkur road entry at 06:03 PM.






We get off NICE road - Hosur road exit at 06:41 PM. Bangalore welcomes us with a light drizzle.

[mpksuhas]

Epilogue


General

• Total KM's - 2690
• All toll payments on NHAI apart from two - Hubbli bypass and second toll north of Hyderabad (forgot the name) was through Fastag. Hyderabad ring road (non NHAI) doesn't accept Fastag.
• MH SH tolls are free for cars. Only heavy vehicles need to pay toll.
• Pune - Satara section is still work in progress. However, there is slight improvement compared to last year.
• Ideal time for this trip would have been soon after rain, caves with lush green surroundings would have been great. Also, the same season is best to visit places around Pune.
• None of the caves are disabled friendly. Though there are ramps for wheelchair access at few caves in Ellora, it is unusable. Those with knee ailments too will find it tough.
• Always get ticket from ASI website to avoid rush. Link
• Tickets can be downloaded as PDF and just displaying QR code of the ticket on your mobile screen is enough. Authentication is done by scanning QR code from a mobile device present with ticket collector. This is the same procedure for tickets purchased over counter too.
• You need to select date of visit while purchasing online ticket. To save you from any instance where you are unable to visit the monument after purchase of ticket, validity is kept for two days.
• Both caves and Daulatabad fort involves lot of walking, we were always carrying at least 2 liters of water mixed with Gatorade apart from juice tetra packs to avoid dehydration.
• Daulatabad fort has few crazy monkeys which will grab any food items you are carrying.
• Though traffic is bad, Pune roads are better than that of Bangalore.
• Wear footwear which is easy to take off and wear multiple times while visiting caves. Many caves require you to take off footwear.
  

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Ajanta

• Ajanta is closed on Mondays.
• Guides are available, however similar to Ellora they explain only major caves.
• On an average, have seen tourists quoting 3 hours to see the caves. We took more since we visited all caves and were going through the paintings in detail.
• Guide charges, as per online reports are in range of Rs 1500. We did not check the same, hence unconfirmed. Guides are available at ticket counter.
• Do carry a small torch with you, this will help in reading and viewing paintings in darker caves.

Ellora

• Try reaching Ellora early in morning since the place is open from 06:00 AM.
• Ellora caves are closed on all Tuesdays
• Guides are arranged from ticket counter. Unverified, but comments online mention guide charges in Rs 1600 range.
• Ellora would have been more intresting if ASI introduced cycles on rent.

Two books which we referred during trip and would suggest to anyone interested in visiting all caves and knowing the history behind it -


Ellora - Monumental Legacy - By MK Dhavalikar

Purchased online for Rs 170. Has detailed explanation of all caves





Ajanta - ASI world heritage series - ASI - By Debala Mitra

Purchased from ASI ticket counter at Bibi Ka Makbara. ASI world heritage series are great books with crisp information on the monuments.
Trivia: Author Debala Mitra was ASI's first woman director.

Price Rs 99, after discount Rs 60.

[Eddy]

Note from Support: Thread moved from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing.

Wow !!!

[aah78]

Your Travelogue made for some nice nostalgic reading for me.

I remember doing a similar trip from Bombay to the Ajanta-Ellora caves, Daulatabad Fort & Bibi Ka Maqbara with family during some school vacation.

I remember Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak was about to be released & Aurangabad was full of the popular marketing campaign posters - "Who Is Aamir Khan? Ask The Girl Next Door".

Back in Bombay, we actually didn't have a girl living next door, so I went down a couple of floors.