Elllora and Ajanta

The caves of Ellora and Ajanta are unbelievable. They are stone 'caves' that were hand carved by thousands of workers over hundreds of years. These caves are actually groupings of temples and monasteries. The Ajanta caves are Buddhist while Ellora are Buddhist, Hindu and Jain. The 26 caves in Ajanta had many carvings and sculptures as well as paintings depicting the life of the Buddha. The workers and monks used simple hammers and chisels to create their amazing designs. It's hard to imagine the sheer volume of rock that must of been taken from the sites.

In the picture is the Hindu temple Kahlais, at the Ellora caves. This temple is carved from one piece of rock without the use of scaffolding. They started from the top and worked their way down.

Leaving for the Caves

Tomorrow morning I set off for the caves of Ellora and Ajanta. They're a six hour drive from here. Jennie and I will stay there for three nights relaxing before the long trek home. Aurangabad to Mumbai to NYC to Cincinnati to Indianapolis to Bloomington. I look forward to seeing the caves but am more excited to see you all!

President Obama

My friend Jess and I made t-shirts for the Obama party last night. All of India is thrilled with the new president. He's on the cover of every paper and all over the news. Can't wait to come home!

Ghandi Cap

I have been on the hunt for a Ghandi cap and have been asking everyone where to get one since I got here. I'm sure you can picture this cap. It's the white cloth cap Ghandi used to wear...also like a Steak 'n Shake hat. No one has been able to tell me where to get one. We set off Friday afternoon in a rickshaw determinened to find one.

We asked the rickshaw driver to take us to a shop that sold them. He drove us across town to a shop that of course did not. So we asked the shop owner where to go. In broken english he told us to go to some shop that didn't exist so we asked someone else. He drew a map that took us to another shop that sold hardware. We asked the man selling hankerchiefs, he pointed across the street. They sold t shirts. We stopped someone on the street but he laughed and kept walking. What makes this scenerio even more comical is that everyone walking around this neighborhood was wearing one! It was like a MadTV skit!

We were ready to take a rickshaw back to Model Colony when we spotted another shop that looked promising. We hit the jack pot. Tons of Ghandi hats for me and Doti's for my friend. We easily struck up a conversation with the shop merchant (who looked like Ghandi himself!). He was so friendly and of course asked us 'And you are from?'. We told him and he said his daughter and the rest of his family were living in Dallas! He had even visited for six months in 1997.

This is a typical Indian experience where anything is possible if you are willing to keep asking the question.