Kent
Wednesday morning we got up dark and early (the sun was not up yet and people were a little punchy) and headed to Ellora caves. These are fantastically carved caves made by Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains many hundreds of years ago.One of the temples was carved right outof the mountain and consists of a solid piece of stone with rooms, statues, andintricate carvings.These caves are notthat wellknown in theUS even though there are a UNESCOworld heritage site. The studentsseemed very impressed with the caves and we took lots of pictures.

We got there right when the main gate opened - some of us hiked up to the caves immediately so we could see the sun rise from inside an ancient cave. The sun was rising behind us, but, we were able to see well enough to see the sun fill the valley with light - it was a very cool experience.

After the caves, we headed back to Pune to catch our train. I had to work really hard to communicate with our driver, but, he did well. We caught our train (28 hour ride) from Pune to Delhi. It was long, but we could sleep, read, and I wished we had a laptop for movies. But, I did not want to have to lug it around India.

Delhi has much better roads than elsewhere, but the traffic is still - shall we say "interesting". As one person has said when driving in India they "take away your life in an instant, and then... give it back to you in the next instant".

On Friday we all recuperated from the crazy train ride.

Well, our coach turned out to be a bus with 1 driver and two lackeys. After visiti ng the Bahai temple for a service, the "tour guide" showed up. He did not want to takeus to the Hindu temple we requested seeing, because it was a very special holy day and the lines were long. We went anyway. Then, we did manage to cut in line and get into the temple. It was a mass of people milling around the idol,. smearing it with coconut oil, and other offerings of food, etc. I managed to grab some video footage before I was told to stop video taping. It was surreal in the temple because of the noise, the heat, the crowd - a huge contrast to the controlled, quietness of the Bahai Temple. Bahais essentially believe that all religions are one, but that their religion is the true manifestation of all the religions. They had a very nice visitor center, and the temple was very impressive architecturally - it is in the shape of a lotus flower.

Now for the saga:

1. We want to go to lunch
2. The guide says ok
3. He takes us back into town, which turned out to be 1 hour away from the craft museum which we wanted to see after lunch
4. He says just go inside this resturant
5. We say OK
6. We say where’s the menu - turns out they have expensive items - the tour guide has to have his cut you know...
7. We say - take us out of here
   
8. He says – here’s a craft museum (just an emporium where he will get another cut)
   
9. We say NO WAY - we want to go to the Qutb Minar
   
10. He says don’t you want lunch? We say we will find our own!
    
11. We finally get to the Qutb Minar, where the student ID cards were great for a student discount! 10 rupees rather than 250!

The Minar was startedbyone moghul emporer and finished by another. It is very tall (200 ft or so) and very impressive. Unfortunately no one is allowed to climb it.

We saw the iron pillar of exceptional purity - you can't touch it now, but when I was a kid I tried to put my arms around it.

12) After we got back, he said "are you sure you don't want to go to this eporium?" We say NO WAY, enough of this - Just take us toour hotel!

When iIgot back to the hotel, I talked to the manager and told him our saga and asked him to schedule a Tempo 10-passenger van. He said it couldn’t be done in Delhi - let me check with the police - he then faked a call to the police - and then tells me it can't be done.I almost believed him because my other contact had wanted to book two smaller vans for us. But Cheryl says no way, that can't be true. So, I believed her and said to the manager - I'll come back in a bit.

We stepped outside, walked two blocks into a little hole in the wall travel agency and booked a tempo van for less thanour hotel was going to bookit. This is a van that willfit into small parking places and does not reqire three lackeys to operate! So, we went back and told the manager who then cried around a little because he had been deceiving us - it was fun to watch him squirm when he called to cancel our other bookings. I'm sure he will try to causeus some other trouble - but I'll keep my eye on him!

Anyway, we now plan to go to Jaipur on Monday, see the "wind palace" a beautiful pink palace made for a moghul emporer's harem. The ladies could each sit in a room and look out on the bustling market place. The palace is very thin andtall so that each room has a street view. We'll also see Janter Manter, anastronomical obeservatory site with huge sundials etc. The emporer hypothesized that larger instruments would be more accurate. Evidently they still use the sundial to forecast what the crops will be like in a given year.

We will shop in Jaipur, stay the evening then on Tuesday travel to Argra and theTaj Mahal. On Wednesday we will rest again, and on Thursday see the Republic Day parade. We were able to buy some tickets for good 5th row reserverd seating - about 300 rupees each or about 7 dollars or so - it seems like a lot over here when a rickshawride costs 30 to 40 rupees! I was incredibally impressed that I could actually buy these tickets at a counter set up on the street! I would have thought they would have all been sold out by now!

Evidently, people just crowd the parade route and try to see it that way! I didn't think the students were up for that much cultural imersion so opted for the tickets If we had gone to the side of the road , we would have had to show up at midnight in order to get a spot next to the route. This way we can get some sleep.

We hope to see the red fort on Friday, the craft museum then, and the India gate before we leave India and return home - Home will seem strange after dirt, heat, crowds, friendly people, bazaars, noise, smilling faces, hot food, endless negotiations, Bombay belly, changes of plans minute by minute, punchiness, wonder, awe, tears, laughter, ch ch ch chAAAAAI (tea) etc. etc. etc. etc.

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