Thailand Trip April 2011

10 days break! (Although I’m unemployed during this period, but yeah!!!!) I was joining a new workplace and had a gap in between jobs. Travelling was the only activity that I could think of in this period. The idea of travelling to Thailand had been haunting me since the past 2 years, so to decide on the destination was not tough. What was tough was to get a travel buddy. Fortunately, my friend Neha came to my rescue. Now, I wanted to play it safe as it was a first international holiday for both of us. So, I started looking up websites like Kesari and makemytrip for group tours. Unfortunately, the dates for these tours were not convenient. So, it was evident that we had to go for a customized tour.

Pre-Travel Planning

The first task was to finalize the destinations. Following were on my list:                                        

Bangkok (of course ;))

Pattaya

Phuket

Koh Sumai

Chiang Mai

Of course, we could not travel to all these destinations in 7 days time. So, we finalized on Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket. And apparently, our tour operator regarded this too as quite audacious.

Second task was to book the journey. Lack of time prevented me from booking the tour on my own. So, we had to rely on the expertise of tour operators. We obtained quotes from various tour operators such as makemytrip, Strawberry Holidays (part of Kesari), Cox & Kings, Thomas Cook and Travelbug. Finally, we zeroed in on Travelbug. This tour operator had been recommended to me by a friend. We got a quote of Rs 94780 for 2 persons. This included air tickets, accommodation in 4 star hotels, breakfast on all and lunch on 2 days, half day tours in Phuket and Bangkok, Phi Phi Island tour, Coral Island Tour and Alcazar show.

Third task was to gather the details for Visa. We were to obtain a visa on arrival. All we required was a photograph (4 X 6cm) and BHT 10,000 cash per person. The Visa fees are BHT 1000 per person.

Fourth Task was to get travel insurance. We finalized on Oriental Travel Insurance. For the two of us, it was Rs 1286.

Fifth task was to get cellphone access in Thailand. Although, we both had international roaming, calling from Thailand would be just too expensive. So, we tried to check the options from Matrix. The calling prices seemed okay but we were not happy with the Rs 5000 deposit we would have to pay and this would be returned to us after only a month. I researched and found that it was quite easy to get a local SIM card in Thailand which would be activated immediately and would fit in our mobile phones. Also, calling cards were fairly cheap in Thailand. But Neha, got a corporate SIM card from Clay with no deposit ;). So, task 5 was settled.

Last task was to arrange for the moolah. Now this point caused much agony to Neha and me. We weren’t sure how much and what forex we should carry. After much deliberation, we decided to carry a total of BHT 20,000 equivalent to Rs 30,000. Also, we called our banks informing them to put a travel notification, so that we would face no issues using our cards in Thailand.

The Actual Travel

April 1, 2011, I took the bus from Pune to Mumbai. I reached Neha’s place comfortably by 7:00 pm. From there, we went together to the Airport. We had been booked on the 02:30 am flight on Thai Airways to Bangkok. This undoubtedly is the most colorful flight ever and I was really fascinated by the beautiful Thai dresses worn by the airhostesses. I quickly added “Buying Thai Dress” to my To Do List. The vegetarian food served on plane was not bad. So, all together we had a comfortable journey to Bangkok.

Day 1 (or should I say Frantic Day 1)

We reached Bangkok by 8:30am local time on August 2, 2011.  Now, we had to board the 10:50am from Bangkok to Phuket on Air Asia. We were advised by our Travel Agent to complete the Visa on Arrival formalities at the Phuket Airport. However, airport personnel would not allow that. By the time we realized that the Visa formalities would have to done in Bangkok, the queue for the Visa was quite long and we feared missing our connecting flight. I asked around and found that by paying a BHT 200 per person in addition to the BHT 1000 for the Visa fees, we could have our Visa formalities expedited. So, we chose for the express Visa and quickly rushed to the domestic terminal which was in the same airport. Finally, we boarded the Air Asia flight and reached the picturesque Phuket Airport by 12:15 pm.  Here we were met by a tour company representative who handed us the vouchers for Phuket and transported us to the hotel. Reaching the resort was like going on a road trip across countryside. Although it was a 1 hr drive, I thoroughly enjoyed it J. We arrived at the awesome Best Western Ocean Resort at Karon Beach by 2:00 pm. We were all ready to shower and have a sumptuous Indian meal at the hotel, when we got a call from the tour operator that she was here for the half day tour of Phuket scheduled on that day. This left us with only 15 mins to change, go to the loo and quickly rush down to the lobby.

The half day tour:

The half day tour comprised of a stop at the Patong beach, the Phuket View Point, a temple, a handicraft store and the Gems gallery.  The beach was nice and clean but we didn’t get a lot of time there. The Karon View Point was the best part of the tour. Do not miss it if you go to Phuket. The temple was beautiful. There were some nice shops near the temple selling some handicrafts. These were quite nice and were better than the handicraft shop that we went to. The handicraft shop was passable. The gems gallery was nice too. You can get some genuine jewellery at the gallery.

 By the time we were back at the hotel it was 7 pm. We decided to have our first meal of the day before exploring Karon Beach. A word of caution: The Indian food available at the hotel, tastes a little Thai :P.

The Karon beach area is quite beautiful and we came across a shopping street close by. The stuff here was nice but did seem a bit steep and so our shopping spree was restricted. We bought water and supplies from a nearby 7/11 store. These 7/11 stores are almost in every street in Thailand and are quite convenient.

Completely exhausted, we called it an early day.

Day 2

We rose early morning as today we had the Phi Phi Island tour starting at 7:30 in the morning.  The tour company coach took us to the ferry dock. Now this ferry was like a huge ship with 3 tiers. We picked a spot on the topmost tier so that we could get the best view of the sea. It did give us the best view, but it also gave us the worst possible tan. We were served with unlimited complimentary cold drinks and beverages.

The Phi Phi Island Tour

Now Phi Phi Island is a collection of Islands most of which are uninhabited. The natural beauty and the pristine view take your breath away. The sea is a beautiful green and you can almost see the stones on the seabed.  The ferry took us around most of the Islands and then stopped for snorkeling. The snorkeling equipment was complimentary. But this is something I could not appreciate as I have agrophobia. However, all was not lost as I got to witness the next best thing to snorkeling. By throwing pieces of bread, you could attract a host of the multi colored fishes and they came in plenty. It was an awesome experience. Do not miss this if you go to Phuket. After about half an hour of feeding the fishes, we docked at an island where we were to have a complimentary Thai lunch. Fortunately, there was vegetarian food. We ate to our full and feasted on the juiciest fresh fruits. Then we explored the beach and beach shops. The stuff here was pretty good but felt expensive. All we bought were some hats for immediate use. After about an hour and a half, we boarded the ferry once again for our journey back to the main land. This time we chose seats on the lower deck which had the airconditioning we desperately needed.  

We reached the hotel by 5 pm after which we headed to the Karon beach to witness the sunset. Neha also did some parasailing on this beach. We dined at the hotel and then proceeded for another round of the shopping street. After that we explored the hotel and realized that it is quite huge and very beautiful. The staff here is pretty helpful and the facilities provided were more than adequate.

Phuket Do’s

·         Do not miss the viewpoint and some or the other Island tours.

·         Gems gallery is also there in Bangkok so visiting one of them is fine.

Phuket Do Not’s

·         Shopping can be passed. Most of the stuff can be seen in other parts of Thailand and can be obtained for cheap.

·         Water sports can also be passed if you are going to Pattaya. The water sports in Pattaya are cheaper and better.

Phuket Misses

The other things you could see in Phuket if you have enough time are:

·         Big Buddha Temple: There is a statue of Buddha located at the top of the hill which provides a nice viewpoint of the city.

·         Fantasea Show: It is a cultural and magic show at the Kamala Beach.

·         James Bond Island: This is another Island tour similar to the Phi Phi Island tour.

·         Patong Beach: Our tour guide had informed us that Patong beach area was the most happening with lounges and bars open till late.

Day 3

We checked out from Best Western at 12pm as we had our flight to Bangkok at 3:30 pm. We reached Bangkok at 4:35 pm where we met a representative of the tour organization. This lady was pretty sweet and gave us the vouchers for Pattaya which was to be the next destination. She also taught us a few Thai words. We were transported from here to the Nova Platinum Hotel in Pattaya. This journey took us about 2 hrs but the transit road was fantastic and in no way exhausted me. Our hotel room was quite nice although did feel more appropriate for honeymooners ;). We quickly changed and headed for the internet café at the hotel. This was free of cost for guests and something that I really appreciated as I had to book my travel back from Mumbai to Pune on return. We headed out of the hotel and realized that there was not much to do there, so ate at a nearby Indian restaurant. But we were not quite ready to call it a day. We asked around and were directed to the

Walking Street

for shopping, lounging, etc, which also happened to be close to our hotel. This street was quite amazing. It is really long with a lot of shops, lounges, restaurants and massage parlors. It was quite an experience and we were quite happy with the bargain that we were able to secure on the purchases.

Day 4

Our day started early today. The agenda for the day was the Coral Island Tour and the Alcazar show. The cab came to pick us up at 8:30 and dropped us at the South beach. From here we were on our way to Coral Island on a speedboat.

Coral Island Tour

Our first stop was on this makeshift platform in the middle of the sea for paragliding. Since, we had already done this earlier, we decided to skip this. The next stop was on another makeshift platform. Here, you could do seawalking. Now, this is a must do if you are in Pattaya. For half an hour, you wear this big oxygen mask on your head and climb down to the sea bed and literally, walk. You can see the amazing sea creatures and corals. After this activity, we were driven in a glass bottom boat to Coral Island. This part is also quite incredible. You can see the beautiful corals through the freaking, incredible clear, green water, all while sitting on a boat. Coral Island is like a hub for tourists. You can do all kinds of water sports here. Since Neha and I were not interested, we sat on the reclining chairs reading and admiring the beauty of the place. We spent about an hour after which we were taken by our speedboat to the beach to Erawan restaurant, near our hotel, for a sumptuous Indian meal. We hogged on the food, relishing every bit. This meal was complimentary in our package. On our way to Erawan, our cab driver asked if we would like to go to Nong Nooch Village. Since, we had nothing better to do, we were game.

Nong Nooch Village

Since this destination was not in our itinerary, we had to shell out BHT 600 each to see this. But, let me tell you, that it is completely worth it. The Nong Nooch Village consists of acres and acres of cultivated gardens. They are absolutely beautiful and I think, it would take you at least a day to see the entire place. We had no such luxury, so we just went for their famous cultural show. The show consisted of traditional dances and acts that depict the culture of Thailand. I thoroughly enjoyed the show. After the cultural show, was an elephant show. This is a must see. Elephants doing all sorts of things – dancing, painting, playing various sports. It is quite fascinating. After the show, we explored the place a bit till it was time to go to our next destination – Alcazar Show.

Alcazar Show

The Alcazar Show is a famous cabaret that has only transvestite aka “ladyboys” participating. Its quite an enjoyable show and in no way can you say that the people dancing are only men.

After the Alcazar show, we decided to take a stroll on the walking street again. We had a meal at Raj hotels. It was a really nice meal.

This was a really awesome day!

Pattaya Do’s:

·         Coral Island Tour and water sports

·         Nong Nooch Cultural Show

·         Alcazar Show

·         Shopping on walking street especially junk jewellery

Pattaya Do-not’s

Do not sleep in Pattaya ;). There’s so much to do!

Pattaya Misses:

·         2^nd largest aquarium

·         Tiffany’s Show (similar to Alcazar)

·         Sanctuary of Truth

·         Mini Siam

·         Many more!

Day 5

After a relaxed breakfast at the Nova Platinum, we headed for Bangkok. The road trip was pleasant and we reached our hotel – The Ambassador by 2:00 pm. After checking in, we headed out for lunch. There were a lot of Indian restaurants close to our hotel, so there was no trouble in getting food. We decided to go to the

Dosa Place

and did not regret our decision, as the food was yummy. Our main focus in Bangkok was going to be shopping, so no use wasting time. We boarded the sky train from the Nana station close to our hotel. Stopped and then took a taxi to the Indra shopping centre. This is a wholesale market and you can find clothes here for a good bargain. I also tried to look for a Thai or Chinese dress that I could get tailor made. If you remember, this was on my to do list. In Pattaya, I had found that you can get a Chinese dress made for BHT 1000 in 18 hours. But could not find a good tailor shop and the ones that we located, were selling genuine silk which was unaffordable.  After our fill of shopping for the day, we headed back to the hotel. We decided to dine at the Dosa place again.

Day 6

The agenda for Day 6 was a half day tour of Bangkok and some more shopping.

We had a really nice guide and we covered the following destinations:

Temple of the Golden Buddha: This temple contains a statue of Buddha in real gold and weighs 5 tons. Can you imagine that! The story of the statue is quite interesting. It seems that the statue was coated with plaster and was not looked at with much interest by anyone.  Then one day, the outer plaster cracked and from inside shone a light which caught the eye of the temple monk. He removed the exterior coating to reveal this marvelous statue. Best thing is to figure out with surety as to who made this. So, it still remains a mystery!

Temple of the Reclining Buddha:  This temple is one of the oldest Buddhist temples and surely one of the most beautiful. The surrounding area is well maintained and has these n number of pagodas that are amazing. The statue of the reclining Buddha itself is quite magnificent.

A drive around the city: We drove around the city to see the Palace, the museum, the 24hr flower market, Chinatown.

Gems Gallery tour: This was similar to the Gems gallery in Phuket. But that didn’t stop us from buying some momentos ;)

We got dropped by the tour guide to MBK mall, where we decided to shop our hearts out! We bought loads of stuff until we ran out of cash!

We got back to the hotel and dined at the Dosa place again. Headed to bed early. No money for anything else L

Day 7

Last day in Thailand and so much still to be done! But all we did was get through the packing before checking out of our hotel. We had our last holiday meal at the Dosa place and then headed for a traditional Thai massage. It was nice and relaxing.  Post this, we explored our hotel. The hotel was huge. We took the elevator to the top floor for a bird’s eye view of the city and then went to the bird sanctuary. Before we realized, it was 5 pm- the time our cab to the airport arrived!

So ended my awesome journey to amazing Thailand!

Would I go back again? Yes, I would :D

Bangkok Do’s

·         Shopping, Shopping, Shopping!

·         Temple Tour

·         Travel by Sky Train

·         Thai Massage

Bangkok Don’ts

Gem’s gallery tour if you’ve already been to the Phuket one.

Bangkok Misses

·         Experience night life in China Town

·         Tour of the Palace

·         Visit to the Floating market

·         National Museum

Complete Tour Tips

·         If you are pressed for time and can make it to just 1 or 2 destinations, visit Bangkok and Pattaya.

·         Hotel accommodation is quite cheap and reasonable. So if you really want to book yourself in a nice place, go 4 star.

·         You can easily plan the journey on your own for a lot cheaper, if you have sufficient time.

·         Thai taxis or tuktuks are quite expensive. So, be sure to negotiate.

·         Thai people are very warm and helpful. Did not face a single issue with anyone.

·         Although a lot of people say that you can buy stuff dirt cheap, it ain’t  true. However, you do get quality stuff cheaper than in India.

·         The street shopping in Pattaya for trinkets is a must. You won’t see such stuff even in Bangkok.

·         Indian food can be easily got.

·         Thailand is a must see!

Aurungabad Trip

My best friend, Afreen and I decided to go on a 3 day trip to Aurangabad primarily to see the world renowned Ajanta and Ellora Caves. We researched over the net and consulted friends to plan for our trip.


Accommodation
Our Choice: We decided to book Hotel Janki Executive for our stay based on the recommendation of a friend. The per day cost of Rs 1600 was more than what we had budgeted for. Also, it was located in CIDCO area which is the industrial area and further from the city. However, we wanted a safe and clean place to stay for our journey and this hotel came closest to our budget.
Our choice turned out to be good. The hotel was quite clean. We did have to ask the housekeeping to clean the bathroom once, but other than that, everything else was good. The staff was very courteous and helpful. The restaurant cum lounge at the rooftop is also nice and enjoyable.
Other Choices: There are several budget hotels located near the Station (most of them are not mentioned on the internet) and Central Bus station area of Aurangabad. However, one would need to check their hygienic conditions. As per several blogs that I have read, most of the hotels in Aurangabad have questionable cleanliness standards. The MTDC, especially, had several bad reviews.


Places to Visit


Our wish list in the order of priority included:
Ajanta Caves: 104 kms from Aurangabad/ Open from 9:00-17:30/ Closed on Monday
Ellora Caves: 29 kms from Aurangabad/ Open from 9:00-17:30/ Closed on Tuesday
Daulatabad Fort: 13 kms from Aurangabad/ Open from sunrise-18:00
Bibi ka Maqbara: 5 kms from Aurangabad/ Open from 8:00-18:00
Pariyon ka talaab: 30 kms from Aurangabad/ Open from 8:00-18:00
Lonar Crater: 170 kms from Aurangabad
Aurangabad Caves: 5 kms from Aurangabad


The Trip


Eve of Day 1:


We departed for Aurangabad on Thursday, November 26^th evening after work. We weren’t able to find a satisfactory bus online, so we decided to go to Shivajinagar Station and check for alternatives.
Our Choice: Humsafar Travels. This was an A/c sleeper bus that departed Pune at 23:30 and reached Aurangabad at 5:00 am following day. The ticket cost us Rs 270.00. The bus was not in the best of conditions. We weren’t provided with blankets. Also, at one point there was water leakage from the A/C vents.
Other Choices: There are a host of bus travels commuting to Aurangabad. A Konduskar A/C seater bus also also departs at the same time. MSRTC Shivneri does not operate late nights.


Day 1:
Our bus dropped us right opposite our Hotel at 5:00 am. Although we did not need them, we were surprised that there were quite a few auto rickshaws operating at that hour. We checked into our room and took a nap for an hour. After ordering breakfast we checked our travel plan for the day.


As per several travel sites and blogs, the MSRTC (Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation) operated internal guided tours were the best for sightseeing. However, we were unsuccessful in obtaining their number from the web. So, I checked with the hotel and they informed me that the MSRTC no longer operates these buses and gave me the number to a travel agent for sightseeing options. I called up the MTDC hotel (Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation) to check if the above was true and …true it was. There were ITDC (India Tourism Development Corporation) buses that were operating these tours now. We promptly booked a tour to Ajanta Caves for Day 1.


We reached MTDC at 8:30 and boarded the ITDC bus. One would assume that after paying Rs 400 per ticket, the facilities provided would be decent. However, what we got was a rickety old bus that looked like it had not been cleaned since the time it was bought. In addition, we had to pay Rs 25 per person for convenience charges and a one way travel in the non A/C eco-friendly bus to Ajanta. The non A/C is Rs 7 and A/C is Rs 12 for these buses.


After a 3 hrs drive and a stopover at a place which did not look clean as well, we reached the foothills of the Ajanta caves. Here, we boarded the eco-friendly bus to the caves.


The setting of the caves is absolutely beautiful and a sight to see. The caves are amidst tree covered mountains and there is a small stream that passes the foothills of the mountain which adds to the scenic beauty of the place.  Its almost poetic!




Ajanta Caves
Sightseeing: Ajanta caves are a World Heritage Site that date from 2BC-800 AD. There are a total of 30 caves of which some are still incomplete. They were made by Buddhist monks as temples and/or meditation rooms.
These caves were actually discovered accidently by John Smith, an Englishman who was hunting in the jungles of Ajanta in 19^th Century AD. You can tell that from the name and date scratched by this stupid man on one of paintings.
The caves are an example for the phrase “Nothing is impossible”. It is amazing as to how the monks thought about, planned and executed such beautiful structures and paintings on the mountains some 2000 years ago. The color for the paintings was used from the green and red colored stones found on the volcanic rocks on the mountains. The other colors were extracted from plants and blue was imported from Persia.
The Ajanta caves are famous for their paintings that tell us the Jataka tales. Most of these tales are about the different incarnations of Buddha and have a moral attached to the stories.
It is a must see for all who have an interest in ancient and historic monuments.
New Friends: We made some new friends on this tour – an NRI couple that had come from France and were travelling India for 5mths. Also, we met a gentleman who was pursuing CA and was visiting the caves for some research. It was interesting to meet our new friends and they made our trip even more enjoyable.
Guide: Our guided tour covered only the important completed caves and these too were covered quickly. Afreen, especially, complained that we did not have enough time for photographs. However, once the guided tour ended, we were given time to explore the remaining caves.
We explored a little, and then boarded an A/C eco-friendly bus to the foothills. This bus was quite nice and we wished that it would take us through the remainder of the journey.
Food: The foothills of caves have an MTDC restaurant. It is unbelievable that the only restaurant in Ajanta cannot even maintain decent dining facilities. The restaurant was not clean and the menu was limited. We decided to settle for a sandwich and fresh lime soda. The only saving grace was the washroom which was functional and somewhat clean.
Shopping: The foothills have a number of shops selling handicrafts, sculptures, stones and gift articles. They looked interesting but lack of time ended the shopping trip sooner than expected.
Recommendation: Please wear comfortable footwear as you do have to walk a great deal. Also, get footwear that you can get in and out of quickly as you need to remove your shoes outside every cave.
Wear a hat/ scarf as it gets quite hot in the afternoons.
Carry a camera that can function without a flash as a camera flash can damage the paintings and is prohibited from being used inside the caves.


Another 3 hrs and we were back to the MTDC by 6:00pm. Here, we bought tickets for the next day’s trip to Ellora et al and inquired about a trip to Lonar. I was quite exhausted and famished. So, we headed straight for the rooftop restaurant at our hotel. We ate a good meal and were ready to call it a day.


Day 2:


I woke up after a good nights’ sleep. There was no hurry today as the tour started at 9:00am. Our itinerary for today was Daulatabad Fort, Ellora Caves, Grishneshwar Temple, Bibi ka Maqbara and Panchakki. We ate a light breakfast and headed for the ITDC boarding point.
As expected now, even after paying Rs 270 per ticket, we had before us an unclean rickety old tour bus.
Not completely expected, our bus broke down on the way and we had to travel a 1-2 km distance in rickshaws to Daulatabad fort.


Daulatabad Fort
Formerly known as Devgiri, this fort was built by the Yadavas in the 12^th Century AD. It was later conquered by Mohammed bin Tughlaq who was so impressed by the defense systems of the fort that he made Aurangabad his capital and ruled from here for 2 yrs. The defense systems indeed are quite amazing. The Fort is situated atop a mountain and there was just one way to the inside. At first you have a moat surrounding the fort filled with poisonous snakes and crocodiles. The only way inside is using a drawbridge. Then you have massive doors followed by dark tunnels and mazes with tricky places to capture and kill any intruders. Past these, the only way to move forward was a staircase with 400+ steps. The end of the steps had a copper plate laced with acids emanating strong odors that made breathing difficult. If the enemy ran down the steps the only source of fresh air was a hole in the wall that would take them straight to the moat. Phew! The makers of this fort had done a good FMEA!
Besides the main structure there is a temple dedicated to Bharat Mata, the second highest tower in India- Chand Minar and an ancient water reservoir.   
I would recommend this fort to anyone travelling to Aurangabad.


Ellora Caves


 Ellora Caves are quite close to Daulatabad Fort. Like Ajanta Caves, they are a World Heritage Site. They date from 5^th to 10^th Century AD. Unlike Ajanta, these caves were never lost. Also, these are not just Buddhist caves. There are Jain and Hindu Caves as well that make up the total of 34 complete and incomplete caves. Ellora is famous for its monolithic structures and carvings. You would not find many paintings here. In addition to temples and meditation rooms, the caves were also used as monasteries by the monks. The world’s largest monolithic rock cut Hindu temple can be found here as well. What is interesting about these caves is that they were all constructed from the top to down. This must have required a great deal of imagination and communication of this imagination as there were no blue prints in that era.
Like Ajanta, our guided tour covered only the important caves. Our guide mentioned that to visit all the caves would require 5-6 days (I think it is exaggerated, but ok, visiting all will take time).
After the sightseeing, we lunched at the MTDC at Ellora.


Grishneshwar Temple
 
After lunch, we visited the “Jyotirlinga” temple in Aurangabad – Grishneshwar Temple. A “Jyotirlinga” temple is where the “linga” – a symbol of Shiva, manifests itself rather than being created. A popular belief among Hindus is that you can wash off your sins by praying at a Jyotirlinga temple. After a brief stop here, we proceeded to the next destination.




Bibi ka Maqbara


Bibi ka Maqbara is believed to have been built by Azam Shah, the son of Aurangzeb as a tribute to his mother. Originally he thought of making a replica of Taj Mahal. But for lack of funds, he was unable to complete the whole monument in marble. So half the monument now stands in Plaster of Paris.
Although its not in great condition, its a nice monument. And if you wish to but haven’t been to Taj, this is surely the place you should visit. Also, we did see that there was some restoration work being carried out.


Panchakki


Our last destination was quite passable. Its an ancient flour mill that uses power from water. Not much to write about this one.




Sightseeing:  The must see for this day were Ellora, Daulatabad Fort and Bibi ka Maqbara. These 3 are not as well maintained as Ajanta. Wish the Maharashtra tourism dept would do something about this.
Guide: Our guide and the guided tour today were nice. We did have enough time at each monument for pictures and exploration.
Food: The MTDC restaurant at Ellora could do so much better. This is the only restaurant near Ellora. I’m sure they aren’t running short of funds. So I don’t see a reason why they cannot maintain cleanliness in the restaurant and the washroom and have a better food menu. I’m sure any other private restaurant would have done so much better.
We had the thali here. It was edible but I wouldn’t say it was great.
Shopping: There were a lot of shops outside each of these locations. However, none of the merchandise caught my eyes today.
Recommendation: Please wear comfortable footwear as you do have to walk a great deal. Wear a hat/ scarf as it gets quite hot in the afternoon.


 After this we were back at the MTDC. Here, we booked our taxi for the Lonar Crater journey with Classic Travels for Rs 2000. This was inclusive of the toll and parking charges but we had to make the entire payment in advance. We also went to the ST station and booked a bus for 8:00pm. I must mention here that the old gentleman that booked our tickets was quite funny and friendly (in no bad way).
We reached our hotel and had dinner at the same rooftop restaurant. I was glad for the relaxed ambience and cool breeze. We settled the hotel bill as we were to check out early Sunday morning at 6:00.


Day 3:


Afreen and I are all set to leave at 6:30 am but guess what? No cab. We try to call the number on the receipt and the MTDC but no response. After trying for I don’t know how many times, we finally get through Classic Travels at 7:00am. As informed to us, the driver did not have the proper address of the hotel and was going to all the hotels in the area to locate us. I thought this explanation was total bs. There was a thorough lack of co-ordination between Classic and the actual vendor that sent the cab. We finally set on our journey by 7:30am. The cab driver obviously thought he was too smart for us, started asking us for the money to fill gas. We informed him that the taxi fare was paid in advance. Then he revealed that there was enough gas and he didn’t need to visit a gas station. After that he started asking us for the toll charges. We informed him that this too was paid for in advance. He made us speak to his boss who requested that we pay for toll and we would be reimbursed later. After all these silly hassles we finally reach Lonar Crater by 11:15 am. We decided to eat before exploring the Crater.


Lonar Crater:


Lonar Lake is the only meteorite lake in India and the third largest in the world. The crater is approximately 52000 years old. There are a lot of legends surrounding this lake. However, we went there just for the scenic beauty! The Lonar lake is quite pretty and you can actually see the reflection of the sky in the water. Langoors, Snakes, Monitor Lizards, Mongoose, Fox and Deers, Hundreds of Pea Fowls can be found in the crater. However, we decided not to venture down to the lake as it would take us atleast 3 hours to climb down and up again. The natural beauty of this place is so far preserved with absolutely no commercialization except for the MTDC Lonar. This can be a boon as well as a bane as there is no proper road to the crater and not too many means of transportation to reach it. I was actually surprised as to why this area is not so well marketed considering that Lonar is just one of a kind. There is a mini crater closeby. However, we did not have enough time to explore it.
We drove around the periphery of the crater and then headed for the Gomukh Temple.


Gomukh Temple


As mentioned in the MTDC brochure, the ancient Gomukh Temple has a perennial river flowing from the mouth of a cow carved in the temple. The source of this stream is, apparently, a mystery. The stream is considered to be holy. In reality, it is just a place where the village men bathe. The temple itself was under renovation. We barely stood there for 2 minutes as the men stopped their bathing to ogle at Afreen and me. This was a total waste of time. Do not visit this temple.
We proceeded to the next destination – Daitya Sudan Temple.


Daitya Sudan Temple


After the disappointment of the Gomukh Temple, we were expecting another disappointment in the Daitya Sudan Temple especially since such few people in the village knew about it. However, after a lot of guidance, we finally reached the destination and were most pleasantly surprised.
The Daitya Sudan is a Vishnu Temple dating back to the Chalukya Dynasty. It has these absolutely gorgeous carvings on basalt stone that are breath taking. The sad part is that this is not preserved and parts of the temple are falling. If you get a chance, please see this temple before it crumbles and falls. We spent a lot of time at this temple marveling the carvings.


Sightseeing:  The must see for this day were Lonar crater and more so the Daitya Sudan Temple.
Food: The MTDC restaurant at Lonar is the worst there probably is. We ordered for a Thali which was reasonable but the hygiene was far from acceptable standards. I actually found a bug in the food. The tables, chairs and entire place did not appear as if it had been cleaned for days. The washroom was a joke. The women’s loo was broken and men’s loo was stinking so bad that you don’t want to even go near it. I asked the restaurant people if there was another washroom and they started laughing as if it were a joke. Sadly, this is the only place for food and loo for a long distance (unless u don’t mind bushes and trust me they will be a better bet than this place).
Shopping: No shopping destinations for today!
Recommendation: Please wear sports shoes if you want to hike down to the Crater. I had read on a lot of sites that there may be snakes on the trail.
Also, please try and avoid MTDC Lonar. Pack a dabba and use the bushes!


After Daitya Sudan temple, we proceeded to the MSRTC bus stop for Aurungabad. We stopped at a decent restaurant on the way for refreshments. Reached the bus stop at approx 5pm. We decided to cancel the tickets for 8 and instead take an earlier bus at 6:00pm. We were back in Pune by 11:00pm.


Thus ended our amazing weekend of Aurangabad siteseeing. It was truly (I know repetition) amazing!