Still in Sanchi...

At sunrise I went to the famous stupas of Sanchi. It's a beatiful, peaceful and powerful place. It has several stupas, but the first one is the biggest. It was built by emperor Ashoka, after he decided to follow Buddha's teaching. I guess this is the same Ashoka, that I heard about in evening discourses in vipassana course. He was called 'Ashoka the Terrible', and led a lot of cruel wars, but after learning vipassana he understood he's just harming himself. So his enlightment was so powerful, he then was called 'Dhamma Ashoka' (Dhamma is the teaching of Buddha). He sent teachers to spread vipassana from India to another countries and built this beatiful stupa.




















Except the big stupa, there are a few smaller ones, and also some monasteries.
After this site, I went to Sanchi market, hired a bike and made my way to Udaigiri caves (just can't get enough of them, I guess). The road is really tough, and also there are like thousand Indian people, mostly children that wave and cry out 'Hello' and expect to get feedback. Many of them love to be photographed as well.

This trip made me really tired, but it was quite an experience. So I went to these caves, did some climbing.















Actually, only one cave is worth visiting this place, but there's also a garden nearby, very peaceful. It's like a park, actually, lot of trees has signs on them, with their Hindi, English and Latin names. So, I found this rubber tree and laid down nearby for an hour. There was noone in this place, only birds, it was great.
Came back afternoon, really tired, and very hungry. Nothing compares to home-made Indian meal, with some banana lhassi after it!
Just found out that the express train to Jhansi is going to be here only at Thursday, so I'll stay for one extra day. Before Khajuraho I intend to get to Orccha, which is also a really cool place, as people say. Few tourists are here, very nice people. Yesterday I've met a British girl, a French guy, and even one Estonian girl. I haven't many any Israelis yet, except for the plane, and can't say I'm complaining :) Probably going to see a lot of them in Varanasi... They don't have a nice reputation, so I'm doing my best to change it.

Sanchi

We've arrived to Jalgaon by bus from Ajanta (me, an British girl named Jessica, and an Italian guy named Sergio), after travelling in the caves. The caves are really amazing, I've enjoyed more than in Ellora, also because we got to Ajanta early, so it was less hot, and also it takes less climbing. The caves are in different style, with wall paintings. They have so many details, there are hundreds of figures in each one, and every one has its part in the story. The guides in the place know all about it. There's this painting of Buddha, after his enlightment, coming as a monk to his wife and grown-up son, after not seeing them for years, begging for food. They were probably very surprised to see prince Gautama like this... We left the caves at about 15:00, and went to Jalgaon. My train was late at night, and so was Jessica's, so we decided to rent a room in a hotel and wait there, because waiting in the train station wasn't really pleasant. We went to this hotel, recommended by LP guide. The owner was so nice, willing to help in any problem.
So I left at nigt for Bhopal. Luckily for me, I looked in a train window at 9:00 am, and saw this English sign 'Bhopal' in the station, so I figured I should probably get off. I've went straight to the bus stand and finally, arrived here, at Sanchi, which is a quiet and peaceful village, located in a junction of two roads. The trip at bus took about two hours (it's only 40 km away, but the roads are not in the best shape).
It's so great to get out of the city mess at last. Although the facilities here are really basic, the "shanti" in this place really compesates for it. I have a room, finally did some yoga, first time since I've been in India. So good to hear all that KNACKS coming out of the back after the train and bumpy bus travelling! Today I won't to anything, just rest... Tomorrow at sunrise I'll go to see the famous Sanchi stupa (it's a pagoda, a place where Buddha's relic is), and maybe rent a bicycle and travel around a little bit. I'm going to stay here for at least two days, and then head for Khajuraho.

Aurangabad

I've been now two days in Aurangabad, which is eastern than Mumbai. Was very glad to get out of there, actually. After booking train tickets, I've spent the whole day in a taxi tour around Mumbai, and got to see some of the shocking stuff in the streets... Anyway, I've arrived in Aurangabad at 4am, and immediately taken by a riksha driver to some hotel not very far away from the train station. The next day my and an Italian couple made a tour in the city. It has nice Buddhist caves, which don't see many visitors. It also is very big industry of Himroo, which is kind of silk mixed with cotton. We were taken to see a Himroo factory, it was quite interesting.
I met a really nice auto-rikshaw driver, named Ashok, which was kind enough to give me some advice around the city, and helped me with planning my way north a little bit. He didn't want to take any money for that, either! In the evening, I've left this hotel and moved to a cheaper one. It's a dormitory, called Youth Hostel, and it is run by a very kind woman, named Frida. I got a nice sleep. Today, I went to see Ellora caves, which are 20km away from the city, they have Buddhist, Hindu and Jain carvings. Very impressive, very beatiful, although I've got really tired.
Tomorrow, I take a bus to Ajanta, which is known for its caves (yes, more caves!!), and from there, I'll continue to Jalgaon. From Jalgaon, I've booked a train ticket to Bhopal, which is in another state, called Madhya Pradesh (now I'm in Maharashtra). The computer I'm working is really slow, so I won't upload any pictures yet. See you around!

Namaste!

Finally, I've landed in Bombay! The flight was rough, so I'm very tired and not shocked as much as I expected... Everything is very different here, but it's not as horrible as I was told. Although they have like 20 million people here, absolutely no traffic rules, cows and goats on streets, very warm weather (35 degrees, no less)... I can manage it.














The first goal after arriving here was to get to the Chhatrapati Shivaju Terminus, or CST. That's a big railway station, from which I plan to take a train to Aurangabad. I took an auto-riksha, which is a funny vehicle: it has 3 wheels, but the maneuvering the driver does with it is unbelievable. Usually, there are no lanes painted on the road, and when there are, nobody gives a shit about them. Also, the drivers here like to use their horn very much, probably because most of the cars don't have mirrors at their sides. So, after going sometime on auto-riksha, I switched to a cab, and finally (after like 1.5 hours) reached the train station. This place looks very European, kind of Victorian palace :)














Luckily, there's counter for tourists, and I bought my ticket pretty quickly. I'm going tonight, on 21:05, in first class! There's not much to do until then. I dont wanna put my stuff in left luggage in the station, because it's closed in the time of my train. So, I'll hang around with the Lonely Planet a little bit ...

Hello, world!

I think this blog will be mostly dedicated to my upcoming trip to India. I'll try to write in English, hope this will work out ok :)

Happy Tu-bi-Shvat!