Buddhist, Hindu or Jain?
09-03-2010
With Bombay done and dusted and our Iranian double entry visa safely slapped in our passports we could continue on our way. Every available corner had suitably quashed the hope of a cargo ship to transport both the bikes and us to Dubai especially after seeing the harbour itself, which is about as chaotic as the roads. We did a bit of research in the ol faithful LP and planned on a speedy trip to Delhi to gain Pakistani visas, with some cave temples and the Taj thrown in for a bit of interest on the way. 
Ajanta Caves, a bit of a must see in the domestic tourist handbook, was easy enough to find so long as you speak and read Hindi. We struggled to get out of the town we were shacked up in let alone find some Buddhist, Jain and Hindu temples dating back to 200BC carved out of a gorge in the middle of the desert. 
Several wrong turns, pointing, grunting and hours later we stumbled, much as the Brits did i n 1819, ahem, across some pretty amazing and old holes in the rock, but not without the help of a jolly nice chap called Ali, his uncle Dave and our guide for the day, Dinesh who all run a local gem jewellery store by the caves’ entrance. 
When you get to the actual site, a barrier has been installed to prevent anyone from visiting it using their own wheels, this for us was a bit of a bummer as you can imagine, having done so many miles without the aid of public transport. Luckily, the aforementioned family met us at the gate and let us in on the secret; a 25km ride away was a great viewpoint, traditional village and brilliant walk over volcanic rocks to the beginning of the gorge that, in turn led to the caves 
and some interesting scaffolding. 
The weather on that day, like most days round this time of year, was sweltering and after a bumpy ride, long walk and hard climb we were pretty done in so refreshment was gratefully received in the form of chili salted cucumber, sounds weird but believe me it was the perfect medicine, would have been washed down nicely with a cold beer mind you but beggars can’t be choosers, eh? 
Ajanta Caves, a bit of a must see in the domestic tourist handbook, was easy enough to find so long as you speak and read Hindi. We struggled to get out of the town we were shacked up in let alone find some Buddhist, Jain and Hindu temples dating back to 200BC carved out of a gorge in the middle of the desert. Several wrong turns, pointing, grunting and hours later we stumbled, much as the Brits did i n 1819, ahem, across some pretty amazing and old holes in the rock, but not without the help of a jolly nice chap called Ali, his uncle Dave and our guide for the day, Dinesh who all run a local gem jewellery store by the caves’ entrance. When you get to the actual site, a barrier has been installed to prevent anyone from visiting it using their own wheels, this for us was a bit of a bummer as you can imagine, having done so many miles without the aid of public transport. Luckily, the aforementioned family met us at the gate and let us in on the secret; a 25km ride away was a great viewpoint, traditional village and brilliant walk over volcanic rocks to the beginning of the gorge that, in turn led to the caves and some interesting scaffolding. The weather on that day, like most days round this time of year, was sweltering and after a bumpy ride, long walk and hard climb we were pretty done in so refreshment was gratefully received in the form of chili salted cucumber, sounds weird but believe me it was the perfect medicine, would have been washed down nicely with a cold beer mind you but beggars can’t be choosers, eh? 
The route we took in Iran caused us to come across a great deal of building works and the remains of a distinct lack of it. The war between Iran and Iraq had certainly left it's mark along the Persian Gulf, but the people we met seem to be moving on and taking advantage of the economic success the country is experiencing at present (in some cities by charging us rates we would have expected in a reasonable hotel in central London.)
Bit of a disappointment really, UNESCO had got their hands on it 
These images are better than reality 
but we had a good picnic 
with a nice view
Landslip on the Black Sea Coastal Highway 
Feels like we're on a 2 week holiday still