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Archive for June, 2007

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Caves, Caves, More Caves, and Moving On

Sunday, June 3rd, 2007

I spent the last three days exploring increasingly amazing cave temples (and UNESCO World Heritage Sites) at Elephanta Island (in Mumbai Harbour), and the inland cities of Ellora and Ajanta. Each was filled with beautiful reliefs, sculptures, and Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain temples cut from solid rock. Most of the 30 caves at Ajanta also feature remnants of murals depicting the life of the Buddha. All were incredible, and obvious testaments to the stunning heights of art and beauty that humans can achieve, but my absolute favorite was the Kailasa Temple, which was hewn from the existing rock by more than 7000 laborers over a 150-year period. Mind-blowing.

Now I’m back in my favorite Indian city, Mumbai, preparing for my journey to Kenya on June 5. I can’t believe that this stage of my round-the-world adventure is almost complete. I’ll probably write some final thoughts on my travels through India tomorrow, but if not, you’ll hear from me next when I’m in Nairobi!

Posted in India, RTW 07/08 | 1 Comment »

Odds and Ends 2

Sunday, June 3rd, 2007

• I’ve seen a lot of toddlers wearing shoes that squeak as they walk. Kind of adorable, kind of annoying.

• In one town, Matteo and I were psyched to see a Baskin Robbins and, after looking at its menu, decided to order a banana split. The man behind the ice cream counter said that we couldn’t have a banana split, but he could fix us a “Banana Royale.” Seeing that the only difference (including price) between the two items was that the Banana Royale had sliced bananas while the banana split required a whole banana, we said sure, thinking that maybe there were no whole bananas in the shop. But, as we sat down to wait for our desert, the man took out a whole banana and began chopping it into pieces. … I’m still trying to understand that sort of logic—it seems to happen in a lot of places overseas.

• Some autorickshaws and cars play music that alerts pedestrians when the vehicles back up. The music has ranged from twinkling renditions of “Happy Birthday” to “It’s a Small World.”

• Speaking of music, earlier on this trip in India in the summer I was at a fancy Chinese restaurant that was playing a Muzak version of “White Christmas.” How inappropriate. Now I’m curious to learn the origin of music I hear in ethnic restaurants in America.

• Loudly burping in public, and doing so multiple times, is apparently not an unladylike thing to do.

• You know those VW Bug contests that see how many people can fit at once into the tiny car? I’m convinced that were the contest an Olympic event, the Indian team would take the gold medal every time. I cannot believe how many people can squeeze onto or into vehicles at one time. I’ve seen a family of four on a motor scooter and a group of 10 in a four-seater autorickshaw. And, two days ago, I had the pleasure of being one of 21 people (20 of whom were full-grown adults, mind you) in a van built for 10, with a 200-pound-or-so woman sitting halfway on my lap.

Posted in India, Odds and Ends, RTW 07/08 | 1 Comment »

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