India and Maldives Vacation Index:

1. Introduction
2. Overview and Statistics
3. Zurich, Switzerland
4. Dehli and Agra
5. Jaipur
6. Hyderabad
7. Aurangabad/Mumbai
8. Making Peace with the Poverty
9. Quotes
10. Top 10 Favorite Things About India
11. Maldives & 11.5 Maldives with the Meyers
12. Top 10 Favorite Things About the Maldives
13. Paris
14. What We Would Have Done Differently & What We Did Right
15. Meanwhile, Back At Home…..

EXITING THE TRAIN STATION

It was 5:30AM Monday morning when we arrived in Aurangabad.

It was shocking to see how many people were sleeping on the ground at the train station.  It was a little chilly and a lot of those people didn’t have blankets.  I’m not sure if they were homeless, waiting for a train, or what?

Ben borrowed someone’s phone to call the hotel and they sent a car to pick us up.

We stayed at the Keys Hotel.  Anu had made the train and hotel arrangements for us.  We were unable to do it from the US.  So very kind!  Incidentally, it was the only hotel we paid for during our trip.  All the others we used points to pay for. In Aurangabad there were no major chain hotels, only local Indian hotels.  We didn’t opt for the nicest place in town, but I was pleasantly surprised with the accommodations.

We all showered and ate breakfast before our driver, Khan, arrived around 7AM.  The food was descent but not as good at the Kakatiya.

DAULATABAD FORT

Khan took us to a fort called Daulatabad Fort.  We debated whether to get a guide.  It was only $10 so we said yes.  Very good decision!  We would have missed out on so much without his explanations.

This fort was spectacular!  It was one of the most interesting places we visited in all of India.  It felt like we were stepping into history.  It’s now a place of ruins but it was once a fabulously functioning citadel where wars were waged, lives of soldiers lost, and kingdoms toppled.  Whoever designed this Fort was probably a paranoid sociopath.  Our guide explained the techniques of defense – doors with large spikes made to withstand attacks from soldiers riding elephants, a cannon court, zig-zag paths they would roll boulders down, niches for surprise attacks, long dark tunnels with defending soldiers prepared for sneak attacks, death trap areas, deadly smoke gas, 51 dead ends some leading into the crocodile infested mote water, water being dumped from above, keystones being pulled out so arches would collapse onto invaders.  It felt like we were on the set of an Indiana Jones movie.  I thought the guide said it was never conquered but I read online that the Rashtrakutas built it in the 14th century and since then it was ruled by 9 different kingdoms. After the independence of India from the British rule, it passed on unoccupied and desolate to the Indian Government.

It was spectacularly beautiful in a historically rich and ruined type of way!  Sarah made the comment, not sure if it was this day, about how Disney tries to make things look old and weathered and these were the places they were trying to duplicate.

There was one thing I didn’t like about the Fort and that was the long, dark passages which were full of bats!  Our guide used his measly phone light to get us through those passages. By the end of the last one I was holding his hand.  Hope he didn’t mind.  I could barely see my feet and the loud, shrieking bats just above my head and their awful stench was a little much for me. Add to that the fact that many soldiers had lost their lives in terrifying and torturous ways in those caves.  I’d happily pet a cobra snake before I’d walk through those caves again.

Other than that, we loved the fort and would have explored it all day, but our main reason for visiting Aurangabad was to go to the Ellora Caves so we moved on far sooner than we would have liked.

ELLORA CAVES

The Ellora Caves were probably equally great but our guide was more than a little boring.  He did have one redeeming quality which I’ll get to in a moment.

Ellora is a World Heritage Site containing 34 rock carved caves in the Charanandri hills above Aurangabad.  They were built between the 5th and 10th century and represent the religious harmony in India as there are cave temples from the Buddhist, Hindu and Jain people all in very close proximity.  It always amazes me how diverse India is yet the people have relatively little conflict despite their different religions, castes, and heritages.

The caves were each unique.  Some contained living quarters, sleeping quarters, kitchens, dining areas, worship areas, meditation areas, shrines, and sculptures.

So, although our guide was painfully boring, he gave a fabulous singing/chanting performance in Cave 10 to demonstrate the incredible acoustic design.

It was beautiful.  This is a picture of the roof of that same cave which was designed for acoustic performance.

LUNCH

Khan took us to lunch at the Hotel Kailas, which was just down the road from the caves.   We ordered chicken moglai and butter chicken.  Another successful meal!  We never had a meal that was mediocre.  Everything we had we loved except for some too spicy sambr and the jalopeno peppers I mistook for green beans.

After we finished our meal and headed out to the car, we found a familiar face trying to sell us a souvenir elephant.  This was the same gentleman who greeted Ben hours before when we arrived at Ellora Caves.  “Only 600 rupees” he had said at that point.  Ben politely declined.  He later found us walking from one group of caves to another.  “Hello sir.  500 rupees only.”  Again, Ben politely declined.  He tracked us down again on the way back from those caves.  “300 rupees.”  Well, now hours later this man finally got his sale!  200 rupees for a souvenir elephant.  I guess in some cases, persistence pays.  He had tracked us down from one end of the caves to the other and now all way to our restaurant way outside the Ellora caves boundaries.

FLIGHT TO MUMBAI

We had a 5 PM flight to Mumbai so we checked out of the hotel and headed to yet another airport.  This was the second time we checked into and out of a hotel without an overnight stay – that bed was really calling to me!

We, as in Mike, had some trouble with security at the airport.  The man who did the pat down of Mike kept saying, “You wet?  You wet?”  Michael thought he was asking him if he wet his pants.  After many attempts to understand him Michael figured out he was saying, “You weigh?”  How much do you weigh?  Mike thought there might be a weight limit for passengers but after Michael gave him his answer the man did nothing.  We think it was just his curiosity.

Meanwhile Sarah was having issues, too.  Her bag got flagged for having scissors.  She did have a small pair of folding scissors her mom had bought her in Switzerland.  She did not want to throw them away because they were expensive, handy, and impossible to find in the US.  Just as we were discussing what to do Michael’s bag got flagged, too.  They insisted he had a lighter.  He insisted he didn’t.  “We don’t smoke,” we kept telling the security officer as they searched every pocket.  Finding nothing, they ran it through the scanner a second time.  This time they insisted he had scissors.  At this point I thought to myself, “They’re just looking for something to give us a hard time!”  But lo and behold, Mike did have scissors.  The same little fold-up kind.  Mike decided to run their sharp objects back to the counter to see if he could put them in his checked bag.  The man seemed very concerned that he wouldn’t be able to find Michael’s bag as there were over 100 stacked in the back.  He agreed to try and walked off.  Michael said, “Wait, don’t you want to know what it looks like?  It’s a small, green roller bag.”  The man seemed very relieved to have that information.  He found it and Michael went through security again!  As he was leaving the security area he said, “Thanks guys!  This has been fun.  We should do it again sometime.”

Michael’s version of the fun:

Little did he know, but Michael’s security woes were not over.  When boarding the airplane they check your boarding pass and your carry-on bag tags to make sure they have been stamped, indicating you’ve gone through security.  Well, our security friends forgot to stamp Mike’s little tag – so back he went while Ben, Sarah, and I boarded.  He walked off and said, “Third times the charm guys!”

Another interesting detail in all the Indian and Maldivian airports they checked our boarding pass at least 8 different times.  On one flight there was someone standing at the top of the gateway and at the bottom.  They also check it when we get on the plane and we have to show it to get off the plane.  It felt like we would take 5 steps – show boarding pass, take 8 steps – show boarding pass, take 7 steps – show boarding pass.  It made us laugh.

The flight was short and uneventful except we took a really strange flight path with a bunch of loopty loops.  Very strange.  I took a picture:

MUMBAI

We landed safely and went out to get a taxi.  We opted for pre-pay after our difficulties in Hyderabad.  The car was a small hatchback but the driver insisted we would all fit with our luggage. He put the luggage on top in a little carrier and tried to drive off.  We felt it would be best to put straps over the bags.  He (and the other 12 cabbies who decided to follow us) insisted it they would be fine, but finally they relented and tied them down for us.

Mumbai was the most crowded place of all the cities we’d been to.  I was feeling a little overwhelmed during the drive.  It was the first time and only time I felt that way in India.  People came up to us at every light begging or selling things.  There were people and cars everywhere!

Then we got to the hotel and I felt culture shock for the first time.  There were so many very wealthy, cold white people. The ITC Maratha was a 5 star hotel and there were people dripping in expensive clothes and walking around like they were so important. No smiles – just cold, judgemental stares.  I’d felt so loved and respected in India.  It felt unpleasant to feel looked down upon by the wealthy business people.  I’m sure much of it was my own imagination, but it was strange and sad to be back in the rat race of life.  I knew my time in India was coming to a close and I was also feeling sadness about having to go back to the real world.

Mike and Ben began the check-in process while Sarah and I began asking questions about their spa packages.  One of my goals in India was to experience an authentic Ayurvedic massage. We were happy to find out they had one opening at 9PM that night, and Sarah was selfless enough to let me have the spot.

Ben got the check-in completed but Mike and Sarah were taking a while.  We asked them what was wrong and they informed us they couldn’t find Michael’s reservation.  Again, Mike?  Michael asked to use a computer to get his confirmation email info. It was a major struggle to get the computer clearance through the hotel since you need a room number in order to use it.  It took us probably 20 minutes just to get into his email.  So, he logged into his email, and lo and behold, he had booked it AGAIN for September 21st instead of October 21st.  History repeats itself.

He went back to the check-in desk and explained the situation.  Their response: There’s no room in the Inn.   He went back to the computer to try and book a night at the other ITC location one hour away, but concerned about the logistics getting to the airport in the morning he searched for alternatives.  The hotel staff pointed out there was a Hyatt just across the street from our hotel and so Mike decided to book that hotel online.  However, he had assumed there was only one Hyatt in Mumbai – wrong!  The one he booked was across town.  When he called them to cancel they refused indicating they need at least 2 week’s notice for cancellations.  So, (Mike is so clever), instead he asked them to postpone his reservation two weeks.  After they complied, he called them back and cancelled the reservation.  Feeling a little flustered and not wanting to mess this up again, he walked to the Hyatt hotel across the street with Ben to book the room in person.  They said they only do reservations by phone or email though, so he asked if he could use their phone.  They were happy to let him.  He called them up while standing in their lobby to make the reservation.  Hah!  Success!  Third times the charm again!  Yay for Mike and Sarah!

That whole process took a loonnnggg time.  Perhaps a couple hours.  And yet again, after all was said and done, they had the nicer room, with unlimited internet access and free shuttle to the airport.

Mike and Ben went out to a grocery store to get some snacks for the Maldives.  We had done our research and knew the food in the Maldives was very expensive.  A cheap dinner was around $150 for 2 people.  So, we wanted to stock up on snacks to help cut down on our food bill while there.

Sarah stayed in her room and ordered room service – butter chicken, naan, and gulab jamun for her and a hamburger with fries for Mike.  They said it was great.

Meanwhile I was off to my 9 PM massage appointment.  I’ll be honest once I got there I had second thoughts about going through with the experience.  I’ve only had two professional massages and I don’t think I had to undress for them.  This was the real deal.  They handed me a towel and slippers and told me to put everything on me in a locker.   I spent a long time in the changing room brainstorming non-awkward ways of telling them I had changed my mind.  Haha!  I had already paid, though, and it was pretty expensive so I decided to go through with it.  They had me sit in a sauna room and then steam room.  I had to hold my hand up because the steam was so thick I wasn’t sure I’d be able to see it.  Then they had me shower and the doors were practically see through.  I’m a rather modest person and I was feeling pretty exposed.  Luckily I was able to relax and it was a rather enjoyable experience.  In fact, I was suspicious there was something funny in the water they gave me because I was so relaxed afterwards I could barely walk straight.

Ben and I went to the hotel’s restaurant for a very late dinner and ate a delicious white pizza and pesto penne.  We loved that hotel!  We wished we could have stayed longer, but we had an early morning flight to the Maldives.

We woke up early the next morning – again – and headed to the airport.  Our time in India had come to an end.  I honestly would have cried except the thought of relaxing on a gorgeous beach in the Maldives kept me stable.  We truly loved our time in India!  I don’t expect this vacation to ever be topped.