[mpksuhas]

Ajanta and Ellora has been in our plans since a while. However, few years back while going through different travelogues on forum, came across many who have done Lonar too along with the caves. So we decide to include this too in our plan.

Initial plan was to do a clockwise circular route from Bangalore covering - Pune - Aurangabad - Ellora - Ajanta - Lonar - Tadoba - Hyderabad - Bangalore. However, plan for Tadoba was dropped since it will require additional days and maximum I can get leave, is for a week.

Plan to go via Pune during onward journey was made since a friend of mine had an idea of joining from Pune after flying down till there. Later, he backed out from the trip and I briefly had an idea of doing Bangalore - Aurangabad on day 1. The plan was to drive till Satara on NH4 from Bangalore, take right at Satara and take Phaltan - Karjat - Ahmednagar - Aurangabad. However, the idea was soon dropped after hearing about bad road conditions around there.


This made us redo the planning and it was decided to take the route in anti-clockwise direction. So it was Bangalore - Nanded (Stay)- Lonar - Aurangabad (Stay) - Ajanta - Ellora - Pune (Stay) - Bangalore.


While in the planning phase of the trip, there were at least 6 others who were interested in joining. Based on everyone's convenience in getting leaves, it was planned of doing the drive in March, though we were worried that summer would have started by then.

However when from planning stage we reached the hotel booking phase, one by one everyone backed out. In the end, myself and wife were only left.


Now, we had two options. Wait endlessly for friends who kept changing plans or take the car and go on a cross country drive. The choice was easy.


Since there was no one else with leave issues, we thought of preponing the drive to end of Feb. However, it coincided with Holi festival which meant that it would be difficult to get rooms. This made us decide that we go with the earlier planned dates in March.

[mpksuhas]

10 March 2018

As always, we start early to avoid weekend traffic. It's 03:40 AM when we start from our house, we cross entrance to Bangalore airport at 04:30 AM and head north on Hyderabad highway. I have a fondness towards NH 7 (though its renamed as NH 44, I still somehow like the old name ). While we drove south till end of NH7, we still have a dream to drive north, towards its end at Varanasi.

However, now with new NH numbering, NH 7 is renamed to NH 44 which has its northern end at Srinagar, thanks for the idea NHAI.


Anyways, back to the trip. We were able to make quick progress since the road towards Hyderabad was empty. We were able to see long line of overnight buses driving towards Bangalore in opposite direction.

Our initial plan was to stop at A1 Food plaza just before Gooty toll for a bio break. We reach there at 06:40 AM and find it closed. Hence we proceed till BP COCO Dhone . This is not a fancy COCO, however it has a clean restroom, though its doors were broken. We reach here at 07:00 AM and continue after a 5 minute stop.

By 09:45 AM we reach toll booth at Hyderabad ring road. At the toll booth, you need to collect a token. This has to be shown at the toll you are exiting the access controlled road and based on your distance, toll rate is calculated.

The last I traveled on this road was around 2009 end I guess, that time the road was not fully constructed and there were no toll. However, it has been developed into a superb road now.


Please forgive the insect kills on the windshield.




There is a speed limit of 100 KMPH on the ring road.

There is a section near exit to Nagpur highway where road work is still not complete. This along with a toll booth there, causes a bottle neck.



Its 10:39 AM when we exit the ring road on Nagpur side.

Traffic was bad around Medchal, past that we stop at BPCOCO for topping up. As we were carrying packed food from home, we didn't stop anywhere for breakfast.

Road was devoid of any heavy traffic past that.




At 11:20 AM we stopped for a snacks + bio break at Nagulapally CCD. CCD's are not my favourite food stops, however this route, north of Hyderabad has a shortage of clean restaurants & restrooms. In that way, this was a good option. Service here was too slow, sandwich and coffee took half hour to come but thankfully the restrooms there were clean. It was 12:00 PM when we started from there.

However, some 6 KM's past this place we saw a descent looking hotel. Though we didn't stop there, from the vehicles parked outside, it looked like a popular place here.

Location


Soon we reach the turn off towards Nizamabad, it was 01:00 PM when we get off NH7.

Roads after that are average with few bouncy sections, it continues the same way till Bodham. There is moderate local traffic with maniacal bikers.





Past Bodham, there is road work ongoing till MH border. Hence road condition is real bad. We cross Bodham at 01:45 PM.








Soon we cross over to MH, road condition on MH side is good. The surface looks like its newly laid.









Closed commercial tax checkpost enroute




We take Lohogoan, Narsi route. Past Narsi the road becomes a dual carriageway. All throughout there are random speed breakers on this route, hence do keep an eye for the same.


Finally we reach Nanded, our stay was booked at Yatri Nivas run by Nanded Gurudwara committee.


Do note that there are many yatri nivas run by the committee, however NRI Yatri Nivas which we had booked was supposed to be the better one. We had booked an AC room online through their website.

Cost of the AC room we booked was Rs.500. We reach Yatri Niwas at 03:50 PM.

Total distance for the day - 898 KM's.


Location

Entrance. The Yatri Niwas is located in a big campus which houses other buildings of Gurudwara committee. The whole area seen through the welcome signboard belongs to the committee. Hence parking is not an issue.




Parking area and the yatri niwas in background




Room picture. As this is not a hotel and they charge just Rs 500 for an AC room, it may not be good to write a review on the place. However, for sake of other travelers, the rooms can be called basic. Room is spacious with balcony, wardrobe, dressing area and bathroom. That said, room maintenance was lacking with fixtures in bathrooms broken, non working geyser and dirty walls with faded paints.



That said, this is one of the best available places for stay in Nanded and I would be staying at the same place if need arise later.


Yatri Nivas is a ten minute walk from Gurudwara. Hence we decide on going to Gurudwara after check in.



Nanded Gurudwara - Hazur Sahib

Location


Entry gate to gurudwara




Inside the gates




There is a Langar inside the campus, we have food from there and walk back to the place of stay.

We sleep off early as we had an early start and also have an early day tomorrow.

[mpksuhas]

11 -March-2018

Checkout from the Yatri Niwas takes time due to some accounting issue they were facing. It was 06:20 AM when we finally start. It had drizzled over night and roads are wet around Nanded. Once we get out of Nanded, it starts to rain heavily.




Roads are descent till Hingoli.









Past Hingoli, there are two routes one can take to Lonar. Either via Washim - Rithad - Risod or via Sengaon - Risod.

Route via Washim, is through NH for majority of distance. However, distance wise, via Washim is longer. Since we did not have information about both routes, we decided to take the route via Senagaon. Soon we regret the same, the road is patchy as soon as we exit Hingoli. You need to keep your speed in around 30 KMPH range if you do not want your suspension to go for a toss.






After Senagaon, road surfaces improves marginally. However, road width decreases. This means only one vehicle can pass at a time.




Past Risod, road widens and condition marginally improves. I get a local Indica as my lead vehicle, this helps me in spotting speed breakers and potholes in advance.






After this agonising drive, we finally reach Lonar.




We proceed directly towards Lonar crater.




Lonar Crater


Location





Its 09:50 AM when we reach near the crater.

Our destination is a viewing tower next to the lake. For reaching this, we need to park the car next to road, sign in a register maintained by forest department personal at security check and walk for around 600 meters through dirt road.

Picture of parking area and entry checkpoint from the dirt road. Do note that this is NOT the road through which you drive to reach here, the road on through which we came can be seen in the background. This dirt road is just a walkway, the area around the crater is under forest department and driving is banned.




Details about the crater





We walk through the dirt road and reach the tower








The tower has weird steps which were at an angle, it was scary to climb through that without worrying about slipping and falling down.





The crater is so big that I am not able to get the whole view in my kit lens. These are the best I can get -









Couple of panoramic shots from my mobile -







One of the many temples on the periphery of the lake.




It is possible to trek down to the crater, we see people walking down to the crater from the main road. However, we know that it will be soon scroaching hot here and since we have the drive to Aurangabad left, we decided not to trek down.

Also, though we haven't heard any mention of the same, I was bit skeptical about the safety aspect with just the two of us going for trek. I have read about the crater surrounding being home to 4 leopards and snakes. However, the major concern as usual was from homosapiens.

There are guides who offer their services for those interested in trekking. They come over to MTDC resort asking for the same, one hour timeline is what they quote for going to crater and coming back. For a bigger, meaningful trek around the crater, I had read trip logs mentioning 3 hours. Guides charge around Rs 1500 as per the reports.

For those who are planning on staying overnight at MTDC resort, it is an option worth considering. For those who are religiously inclined, there is a famous temple inside Lonar town too.


Crater viewing done, we head to MTDC resort.



MTDC Resort Lonar


Location


This is located very next to the crater.





Now this is a very nicely thought about resort with big cottages and a huge dining hall. However, the place lacks severely in maintenance. Though we didn't see the cottages from the inside, the dining room and reception was run down.


Later during our trip, we notice that this is a general trend with MTDC. Beautiful buildings, but complete lack of maintenance.

Cottages at the resort




Restaurant / dining area at the resort




We decide to have something to eat before we start to Aurangabad. On enquiring, the menu only had poha, so went ahead and ordered the same. Food was decent and staff was friendly. While we were having food, a guide came asking if we are interested in trek, we declined the same.


At 11:10 AM we start towards Aurangabad.


We decide to take Sultanpur - Bibi - Dursabid - Kingaon Raja - Jalna (bye-pass) - Aurangabad route.

[mpksuhas]

Sultanpur - Bibi - Dursabid - Kingaon Raja - Jalna (bye-pass) - Aurangabad

Lonar Sultanpur has road widening ongoing. There are few deviations enroute due to this, however there is nothing to be bothered about.




Past that till Jalna bye-pass end its a beautiful 2 laned road. There is substantial truck traffic on this road though.

We cross a river which is completely dry. Coincidentally, there is farmers protest ongoing in Mumbai.




Past Jalna we cross Hotel Flora Inn.


Hotel Flora Inn

Location

This is one of the well reviewed restaurant around here. This place was in my mind as a backup in case MTDC restaurant was not open.





Another location which I came across while planning for the trip was Food Junction.


Food Junction


Location

However, this place is near to Aurangabad.




Soon we reach Aurangabad limits




We had booked our stay at 7Apple hotel.



7Apple Hotels Aurangabad

Location

We reach hotel at 02:34 PM.


The hotel is located next to Dmart supermarket. Infact, its located in the same building, but with two different entries.




Hotel entry is located at backside of the Dmart building. Entry gate to the hotel is seperate from road for hotel and supermarket.





Those who have been to any hotels under the Ginger chain of hotels will feel at home here.

Reception - Pic taken later




Room is bit small in size, however its well maintained.






Bathroom





Driveway to hotel doubles up as parking lot. Drawback, car is in open sun. However, its visible from the room.




Corridor

[mpksuhas]

After resting for a while, we decide to head out. Our idea was to do a local sightseeing. We had made a list of places to visit in Aurangabad and had one more full day as buffer. So we were not in any particular hurry.

For local sightseeing, we decide to rent a cab through Ola. A Indigo which had done close to 1.6 lakh KM came to pick us up. The vehicle was in a descent condition and apart from the odometer, no one would have believed that it had covered this much mileage.


Bibi Ka Maqbara

Location

This tomb was constructed by Aurangzeb's son in memory of his mother. Design of the tomb resembles Taj Mahal to great extent, however on execution side it lacks the finesse.


To reach the place, you need to drive through few crowded street. However, just before tomb ticket counter, there is a parking lot. If you are driving during non peak hours, you can take your car here.

The fenced area on the right in below pics is the car parking area.




It's around 04:00 PM when we reach the ticket counter. I had not purchased ticket online for this place thinking it will not be crowded. However, it seems this is a weekend picnic spot for the local crowd. The place was filled with people and there was a long queue.

Entrance to the tomb




Ticket counter




Details about the place






Timings

Since the place is open early in the morning, I guess it would make sense in coming here early in the morning to beat the crowd.












Architecture of the place resembles Taj Mahal.












Inside the main structure




Gravestone





It was around 06:00 PM by the time we got out of the place. Ticket counter was empty by now, we check for ASI publications here and were able to get a book on Ajanta which I was searching for a while. More on that book later.

We decide not to head to other places we had in mind today and instead go there during our buffer day.

We take another Ola and head back to the hotel. Since the hotel is next to DMart supermarket, we decide to head to supermarket first and purchase water bottles, juice for tomorrow.

The hotel has a decent restaurant too, so we end our day with an early dinner.

[mpksuhas]

12- March - 2018

Our plan for today is to visit Ellora. We decide to start a bit early to avoid crowd both enroute and also at the site. Ellora is open at sunrise, with ASI places around here which has timing mentioned as sunrise, we made out that they mean it as 06:00 AM.

We had booked online tickets for Ellora, armed with that we start from hotel at 06:55 AM. We had skipped the breakfast available at hotel, instead we are carrying fruits and lots of flavoured milk and juices to keep us hydrated.





Road to Ellora pass next to Daulatabad fort. We plan to visit the fort on our way back time and energy permitting.






A section of fort wall cross the road, past that there is a small ghat section.








Soon we reach Ellora entrance.






Ellora caves


Location

It's 07:48 AM.

On left side of the road is the parking and what MTDC calls tourist information centre. A huge building spread across a huge area. However, parking lot of the place was closed and we were not able to find anyone to check about the same. Finally, were able to find a guard and he said the building is permanently closed and parking is currently not at the parking lot, but on both sides of the road towards the building.

Again, there is no one there. Hence we open the gates and park the vehicle and have packed breakfast we were carrying.

The long wide, white color road seen in the picture below is the parking now. Actual parking lot, the area you see on the left of the picture is closed and so is the impressive looking building next to that.




Lone car in the parking




At 08:15 AM after breakfast, we head to the caves. Entrance of the cave is located on opposite side of the road.






Ticket counter (Picture taken later in the day, hence the crowd) and MTDC restaurant next to it.




Since we already had purchased tickets online, we head directly to the caves.









There are 34 caves at Ellora and its distributed lengthwise.
Distance from cave 1 to cave 34 is around 2 KM, hence walking up and down in hot sun may not be feasible.

The main entrance to Ellora, is near cave 16, there is a shuttle bus which starts near entrance and goes towards cave 34.

Caves, 30 - 34 are located together. Similarly, caves 27 to 29 are located in a bunch. There is a stream between cave 29 and 26. Though the stream is dry for most part of the year, due to a landslide the walkway between these two caves is cut. Hence you need to walk back to the road, get a bus and get down near cave 21 and walk back to towards 21 - 26.

Once it is done, walk towards cave 16 which is at middle of the whole complex, seeing caves 20 to caves 16 enroute.


Caves 1 to 15 is on the right side of cave 16 when you enter the complex. There is no bus service towards this side, hence if you want to visit these caves, you will have to walk all way.


Attaching a rudimentary map of the caves so that it's easier to make out the layout.





Bus ticket details



Bus start point opposite to cave 16




We get ticket and wait inside the bus. Bus waits for few minutes before starting since there are only very few tourists as of now.

[mpksuhas]

Ellora Caves continued


Caves 30 - 34


Bus drops us at the bus stop near caves 30 - 34. Caves are around 50 meters from the bus stop.

View of bus stop.




Caves seen while walking from bus stop







Cave pics











You can notice faded paint on few of the statues and pillars here. Time has made most of the painting to fade away.











Cave 30 is on a higher level compared to 31 - 34. You need to take steps which starts from right side of other caves.


Route to cave 30





Few steps after, we reach the cave. Cave 30 is almost identical to cave 16 in architecture, however on a smaller scale.

It is a two storeyed cave.









To go towards cave 29 from here, we can walk back take bus and get down at 'Y' junction where road forks for cave 29. However, we were informed by the caretaker of this cave that it will be easier to walk all way through the footpath. Hence we decide to do the same.

[mpksuhas]

It was a good decision to walk all way to cave 29.


View of cave 27 - 25 across the dry stream while walking towards 29.





Walkway from 30 to 29






Cave 29

Cave 29 is an impressive structure with huge pillars and wall carvings. Sad that many people were unaware of the same and were directly returning towards cave 16 after visiting 30 - 34.










The height / depth at which the hill was cut to construct the cave.




Caves 28 & 27 are in ruins and located next to cave 26. We can see the caves from cave 29, however it is across dry stream.







Also, there is no walkway between 29 and the caves 28 and below, due to a landslide which damaged the route.

Hence we need to walk towards the bus route and catch bus till next stop.


Bus stops near cave 29. You need to get off here to visit cave 29 if coming in bus from caves 30 - 34.


Bus takes around 5 minutes to arrive.

[mpksuhas]

Caves 17 - 26

We got off bus near cave 20, we backtrack towards cave 26 through the walkway.

We reach near cave 27. This the the section of walkway which is damaged due to landslide. If this section was present, we could have walked from 29 to here without taking bus.




Cave 29 is visible across the dry stream




There aren't many tourists here


















































ASI has marked each caves by these signs on the walkway. A good idea, considering that a signboard would have been an eyesore on a cave.





Conservation work is an ongoing process.





Noticed these markers at many locations. Felt it is to note down movement of rock layers. Compared to few other locations, I felt the rock here is softer / less stable. There are many locations where landslide has occured.

[mpksuhas]

We continue towards cave 16

Cave 16 - Kailasa Temple

This is the most well known cave in Ellora. In Fact, it cannot be called a cave since the temple structure is fully separated from the adjoining hill.

Though the detail in carvings are missing due to texture of the rock around here, the magnitude of work or rather sheer madness in even visualizing a plan of this magnitude some 13 centuries ago is mindblowing.


Cave 16 is exactly next to entrance. This is the first view of Ellora you get as you enter through the main entrance. It was from here that we took shuttle bus towards cave 30 in the morning.

Cave 16 as seen while entering Ellora complex.




View of main entrance, bus stand and ticket counter further away as seen from cave 16.




Details about the cave




Cave was carved out of the hill which is seen in the background. It is possible to climb the hill in background to get a better view of the cave. If you look closely towards left of the pic, you can see a person in blue shirt on top of the hill.

In case you are not able to make out where he is, check out at an angle of around 2 O'clock . I was able to climb to the same location and capture a picture. Will mention in detail about the same below.




We get into the complex, will let the picture do the talking.













































Between cave 16 and 15, there is a flight of stairs which leads you to the hilltop behind cave 16. This gives you a panoramic view of cave 16.

However, there are warning signs kept here since the drop from here is steep.





I climb halfway through this to reach the place where the blue shirted person was seated in the picture you can see few pics above.

View from here is good, however I stop half way since there are no barricades next to the cliff face. Any mis step while talking picture and you end up in the walkway dozens of meters down on the the courtyard of the temple.

The thought that car will have to be driven by someone else back to Bangalore if I get injured or dead here due to accident made me drop my further climb and walk back.

However, before I walk back I kneel down and with outstretched arm try to capture few pics to avoid going towards edge. Pics come out slanted, however you can get an idea of the view I am talking about from this.





You can notice a person standing near the face of cliff.

[mpksuhas]

Caves 1 - 15

We walk towards cave 1 after this. However, caves 8 to 1 was having some conservation work ongoing. Hence it was not possible to visit them.


So we backtrack through each cave from 8 to 15.

Architecturally none of this caves are that interesting compared to the ones we visited in morning.

The one which stands out is cave 10






































Cave 10

Cave 10 has the famous statue of Buddha.













This is a two storeyed cave, however the balcony of second floor is kept locked. Hence getting a view from there is tough. Thankfully for us, while we were there, the guard opens the balcony door. Hence we get a view from top too.





Past this, we head to MTDC restaurant located near the entrance. It is 02:30 PM by now. - Location. Food here was descent and the place looked hygienic, after that we head to parking. Parking attendant who was nowhere to be seen while we parked in the morning has appeared now, parking charge is Rs 70 for cars.

After being parked in hot sun for half day, car was hot as an oven. We keep the doors open for a while and wait in hope of it to cool down a bit. We start in around 5 mins towards Aurangabad. It's 03:15 PM and we reach hotel by 04:00 PM.

We decide to do Daulatabad fort on another day and also skip tomb of Aurangzeb, which is located few KM's from Ellora towards Aurangabad. Location.

[mpksuhas]

13- March - 2018

Ajanta caves are open by 09:00 AM and it's 90 odd KM's from Aurangabad. With the plan of reaching there by the time ticket counter opens, we start at 07:03 AM from hotel.

Roads to Ajanta are good, there is road widening ongoing, however there is nothing to be concerned about.




There is a small ghat section after Ajanta village and just before you reach caves entry. This slows you a bit due to trucks.

As soon the ghats get over, you find the entrance to the caves.

The caves are around 4 KMs from this point. However, private vehicles are not allowed to the caves. You need to park your vehicles here and get a shuttle bus towards the caves.





There is an MTDC resort next to the parking lot, we had considered this stay option too. However, we dropped the idea to avoid the mess of packing and unpacking multiple times through the trip, and hence we decided to drive down from Aurangabad.

Do note that there are two MTDC resorts in this vicinity. This one, next to car parking is called MTDC T Junction Guest house Ajanta - Location.

There is another one nearby, called MTDC Guest house Fardapur- Location. This is the better rated one among the two. You can find travelogues by fellow TBHPians who had stayed here.

MTDC resort as seen from parking lot.




We reach parking at 08:43 AM, we were having packed breakfast with us and decide to have it first before taking shuttle bus.


Ajanta Parking lot. Location




There is a tourist center like Ellora here too, as mentioned by the nearby shop owners the place is closed since tourism department didn't pay any salary to the employees.

You can see the futuristic looking tourist center and the parking lot where I parked next to it in the Google map view below.




Parking charge is Rs 30 per car, however there is a Rs 10 per head 'Amenity charges' too.

From parking place, you need to walk through a small market area to reach the shuttle bus stand.




Past that we reach the shuttle bus stand.















Different rates for bus. We took the non AC bus which was available, on our return we saw the AC bus too. But it was run as non AC. So I guess, there are only two class of buses now - AC & Volvo.

Since the distance is only for around 4 KM's, it doesn't matter if you take AC or non AC.




Bus was already half full when we got it, soon we start towards Ajanta caves.




Within some 10 minutes we reach near Ajanta caves ticket counter.




Shuttle bus point where we got down




Do note that the cave ticket counter is seperate from the bus shuttle ticket. Bus shuttle tickets have to be purchased separately for onwards and return journey.

As with Ellora, we had purchased tickets online for Ajanta caves too. This helps us in skipping the queue at counter caused by all tourists from our bus.

We start our climb towards the caves. There are few steps to be climbed to reach the caves, those who are unable to do that can avail service of porters.

[mpksuhas]

Before I start with the pics of caves, here are couple of pictures to understand the layout of the caves.

This is a mock up kept in a cave which doubles up as ASI office too.




The brick red gazebo seen in the mockup is what is called as middle view point.
Location

The caves form a horseshoe shaped valley around this gazebo which can be accessed by a flight of steps after taking exit near cave 9. More on that towards end of this day.



This picture is taken from upper view point, this is further away from the middle view point. You can access this by walking for around 20 minutes from the middle view point or by taking a circular road route which is around 25 KMs from Ajanta parking lot. We took the second option, again you can find the details of that towards end of today.

You can find the brick red gazebo towards your left in this picture and on the right bottom corner, the green roof is of the ticket complex and MTDC restaurant. The twisty walkway towards right of this roof is the route you need to walk after ticket counter towards the cave.

[mpksuhas]

Continuation of the Ajanta caves -

Ajanta Caves

Since we had pre booked tickets, we start ahead of the crowd and keep going. The steps are bit steep, however the climb is short.




There is a ramp too next to the steps.





We can see the caves and entrance to the same ahead









You can see the roof of bus in pic below, towards left bottom corner to make an idea of how steep is the climb.






Middle viewpoint, the red gazebo can be seen across the valley

[mpksuhas]

I am updating the picture of caves in general order of cave number 1 to 26. However, not mentioning any detailed description on each cave as such.

Overall, Ajanta is better maintained by ASI compared to Ellora. There are cave paintings in almost all caves here in Ajanta, however many of the paintings are faded or damaged. To avoid any further damage, you are required to remove your footwear or wear a protective cover (will have to bring it with you) on your footwear so that dust and contaminants doesn't enter the caves.

Also, it is not allowed to use flash inside the caves for photography. There is dim lighting provided inside the caves. However for better viewing, its allowed to use torch lights. Most of the guides there were carrying torch lights, so were some tourists. On reading about the same beforehand, we too carried a small LED torch, this helps us in reading the guidebook we were carrying, in the dim lighting.










This is the most famous painting of Ajanta. From covers of history books to ASI publications, most of us would have seen this painting at one or other time in our lives.