Mumbai, Ellora, Ajanta

Well we started our trip in India after Sri Lanka in Mumbai. We only spent a day and a night here, but it didn't take very long for us to realize that we liked it. If there wasn't so much we wanted to see in the month of March we would have stayed longer and really tried to delve into the city taking it all in. Instead we just did a tour through the major areas and took in its amazing architecture.This is the Taj Hotel at night, it was just behind where we stayed. Needless to say our accommodation was in a whole other price range regardless of the proximity.

The Taj hotel at day...
Victoria station... a main train station in Mumbai. The train stations here were amazing, we couldn't believe how many trains would run every couple minutes, how long they were, and how many people would cram into them.
There was a steady flow people out of the train station, without respite for as long as we were there snooping around. It was like a never ending crowd leaving a flames game. With multiple arrival tracks there were always people coming out. Apparently there are millions of people whom ride the trains every day to go to work. It was quite the site.
After we left Mumbia we went to Aurangabad which we used as our base to visit the Ancient Ellora caves. These are old Buddhist/Hindu monasteries which date back hundreds of years and were built by carving them out of sold stone hills. There are amazing to see, it baffles the mind that they were able to do do this, and how long it would have taken. Below are a few pictures that do them no justice.

Jillene making friends with a class on their school trip!








Here's the 2 of us at a distance from one of the largest carvings...
Another thing Aurangabad boasts is the 'mini' Taj, an exact replica of the actual Taj Mahal; just a lot smaller and in a bit of disrepair! Good to get an idea of what we were going to be in store for in Agra.

Next were the Ajanta caves. Not as nice as Ellora, but no less amazing. These crazy monks laterally would have worked for generations completing theses 'caves'. And a lot of the paintings/carvings from hundreds (in some cases over 1000) years ago are still in pretty good shape they built them so well. Not sure why I like this fat guy... I just do!






Finally when it came time to leave these 'Tibetan Refugees' (as they described themselves to us) were taking a rickshaw to a bus stand down the road. Nothing too amazing except for the fact that in there there are 9 of them, plus the driver! To give you an idea ~ Jillene and I sometimes have trouble fitting in the back of a rickshaw with our bags, I have no idea how they all got in there!