December 8, 2009
I didn't stay long. Mumbai is a bit like Singapore: Clean and comfortable but expensive and the only sights are relics from the British Empire.
The sole significant exception is Elephanta. This small island is host to series of Hindu “caves” carved from the rock between 450AD and 750AD. The guide book advised that the caves get very busy on weekends and that it is best to go at 9:00am to avoid the crowds. Since I arrived late on Thursday, that meant an early start on Friday.
I didn't do well with the early part. Fortunately, it wasn't all that important. The entire Gateway to India area was closed off so the usual boats were not available. One operator was busing tourists to another jetty but I think most tourists just gave up. It was a bit messy. The bus left about 20 minutes after it was supposed to. The return boat left an hour later than scheduled. I'm not sure there was a return bus. There was certainly no sign of one when we arrived back at the jetty. I shared a taxi back to the Gateway with a couple of other tourists.
It was definitely worth the trip. Inside the major caves are huge statues of Shiva, Ganesh, and other Hindu deities. Marvelous, though difficult to photograph in the limited light. I wouldn't want to be here when the package tours are around. The Indian family with their bratty seven year-old playing fashion shoot at every monument was bad enough.
Nothing too exciting about the next two days. I booked my train to Aurangabad and wandered the sites looking for activity. The Gateway area was a sea of people, most of them Indian. Vendors sell souvenirs, drinks, and photo shoots which is to be expected. Not expected were the ones selling very large, phallic looking balloons. Clearly, there is a cultural mismatch because the vendors did not understand why I didn't want one and I still can't figure out why anyone would want one.
I leave tonight for Arungabad, jumping point for the ancient temple caves of Ellora and Ajanta. I will arrived at 4:00am and this time I have a reservation at the hotel. First use of new India local sim for my cell phone. I would have bought one earlier but it is just most difficult than it ought to be.
That was Sunday. I've been laying low since arriving in Arungabad yesterday morning. I picked up a cold on the overnight train or (more likely) in Mumbai. It seems to be prevalent among the traveling population here. I'm not incapacitated, but Ajanta is a 2.5-3 hour journey each way plus visiting 27 caves. That's too much in my current condition. I might have been able to manage Ellora but those caves are closed today.
There are worse times and places to stall. The room here is somewhat cheaper than the cell I rented in Mumbai. It is also at least 3x as big and has a large attached bathroom. It could be cleaner but you can't have everything. I am still hoping that my ATM card will arrive in Pune before I leave here, thus saving me the backtrack from Goa.