Ellora / 6 Nov 09

Had a 4am wake-up call in order to leave the hotel at 5am for an hour drive to the airport. Departed at 7am and arrived in Aurangabad at 8:15. Transferred to our beautiful hotel, the Taj Residency. This hotel is so tranquil that I’d love to stay here for several days although there’s no reason to be in Aurangabad other than use it as a launching pad for day trips to Ellora and Ajanta, which is why we’re here. Our rooms are down a long open corridor with bougainvilleas on one side and a huge beautiful pool on the other (our room looks out at the pool), very reminiscent of the Caribbean, and they are so far from the lobby that it seems like a 15 minute walk to reach them.

After check in we returned excitedly to the van for our afternoon at Ellora. Ellora is 18 miles from Aurangabad. Getting to Ellora and Ajanta has been a dream for me (as was getting to Borodudur in Indonesia) since taking a class on Buddhist Art several years ago. When I heard the explanation of how they were created I was simply amazed. I never thought I’d ever see them.

But suddenly there I was at one of the world’s most spectacular places – the “caves” of Ellora, a misnomer because many are not caves at all. They are either “cut-out monoliths” or “cut-in monoliths”. The first means that temples were cut down from above into the rock, the second mean that temples were cut in from the front of the rock.

The “cut out monoliths” are completely amazing feats of human imagination and engineering. Someone conceived a temple in three-dimensions and then figured out how cut down into rock so that the temple was created in one piece without mistake. Our guide, Mamoud, was very effective in describing how the temples were created, the meaning of the carvings, the various religions represented (Jainism, Brahmanism and Buddhism) and informing us about the history of Ellora.

Our first visit was to Cave #32, known as Indra Sabha, Assembly Hall of Indra, king of the gods - what Mamod affectionately termed as our “appetizer”. This Jain monastery was built in 10-11^th century AD. Jain priests cannot eat meat. They can’t eat anything grown in (under) the ground. They cannot do anything that might kill a living being. They cannot walk outside after sunset for fear of accidentally killing a life.

Then on to our “main course” – the spectacular cave #16 - Shiva Temple Kailash. Mt. Kailash in the Himalayas is the mythical abode of Shiva. This is one of India’s most famous monuments. This vast temple is formed from one piece of rock and 3,000,000 cubic feet of rock were quarried to create it. The temple actually consists of three building connected by an overhead bridge. We walked around the lower level which is ringed by elephant carvings, then climbed inside one of the chambers to see beautiful elephant painted overhead (our day of paintings will be tomorrow at Ajanta). The entire structure reminded me of wedding cake because it was so richly carved on the sides and on top and I was eager to climb up on the hillside to get an overhead view. While we were touring we met a group of Indians, mostly women and children, who were eager to have their pictures taken with us. As coincidences will have it, we learned that they were tourists from Orissa (near Puri) and our guide explained that we had just returned from there. We took lots of pictures together, occasionally the women would hug one of us which was very sweet, and then waved to each other until parting.

For dessert, we entered the Buddhist chaitya, cave #10, from approx. 7^th c AD. I thought the following was interesting so I will quote from my guidebook: “This cave temple is dedicated to Vishwarkarma, the architect of the gods and the patron saint of many Indian artisans even today, but having no connection with the Buddhist pantheon. This commingling of concepts, which the Mahayana system initiated, resulted finally in the absorption of Buddhism in the current of Hindu thought and its virtual extinction in the land of its birth.” I quote this because we spent a lot of time discussing religion with Mamod and one of the puzzles is why did Buddhism, which arose in India, eventually disappear from India, and Hinduism, which preceded Buddhism, continue to flourish?

Mamod had us sit quietly at the base of the pillars, as Buddhist monks would have done. Be began to chant, sing really in a basso voice, and his voice reverberated beautifully throughout the chaitya. I can’t describe how beautiful it was; he went on for quite some time and I think all of us left having had a very special experience.

As we walked back toward our van I noticed the beginning of the pathway leading up above the Kailash temple. Cliff was game to go, so we climbed to the top with Mamod who knew exactly the right spots to stop along the way for photos.

The views were extraordinary. In fact this has to be my favorite memory of the trip. Seeing Kailash from above – the beauty of the carvings – the size and scale of it all – and marveling at how this temple could be formed by digging downward from the spot where we were standing.

We returned to the hotel and headed straight for the bar. We could see a beautiful buffet set up on the lawn outside and decided to try it. It turns out we were the only people having dinner that night and there must have been four dinner buffet tables set up. We were given a menu with 25 items on it and were told we should select the dishes we wanted and the food would be brought to us. I jokingly said “we’ll have one of each” and somehow this became a reality. A taste of each and every dish on the menu was bought over, one by one, for what seemed like hours. It was the meal that never ended. Every dish was wonderful. We staggered back to our rooms after a wonderful day of exploring and eating.

Mumbai On Foot / 5 Nov 09

Left the hotel at 8am for a walking tour of the area around the Taj Hotel (called Coloba), the oldest part of Mumbai. About a block from the hotel we saw the oldest hotel in the city that had, in its day, once been incredibly majestic. Every important person coming to Bombay stayed there. Today it is in ruins, barely standing, full of squatters with their laundry hanging from windows.

This same area is the heart of Mumbai’s financial district, the equivalent of our Wall Street. Tall modern banking building tower behind 19^th century English designed buildings such as the Victoria Terminus, a train station that hundreds of thousands of people (maybe more) commute through every day. We had a marvelous guide for our morning tour (a walking encyclopedia) and she told us about her own experiences commuting back and forth from her suburban town to downtown Mumbai. She travels 1-½ hours each way on a train so crowded that she often has to stand on one foot for the entire ride. She said because it’s so hot inside the train, and so packed with people, people will do almost anything to get to the seats next to windows. We walked out onto the platform and peeked into one of the commuter train cars. It was horrible looking, like a an old Long Island Railroad car that’s been left to rot for 100 years and then set on fire. There was one car designated for women only so they can avoid “inappropriate touching”.

When we entered the train station our guide told us that no photography was allowed. We saw serious police presence, machine guns, bunkers, metal detectors (which, ok, no one seemed to use). Cliff wanted me to take a photo of him and Cathy striking a Slumdog Millionaire pose on the platform but I told him there was no way I was going to an Indian prison for his blog.

On a nearby street we saw a huge richly decorated banyan tree. Beneath it sat a woman with a cow. People and cars were stopping to pray at the shrine at the base of the tree and were feeding the cow. It seemed unusual so we asked our guide about it. As we all know, cows are venerated in India. She explained that the woman owns the cow. She also grows the food that people are purchasing to feed to her cow. Pretty good gig this woman has going! But wait, there’s more. The woman sells the urine from the cow which people want because it’s believed to have certain medicinal properties (and no, they don’t drink it). She also sells the dung from the cow which is dried and burned and villagers use ash made from cow dung as an ingredient in a powder used to “brush their teeth”. I’ve heard about the golden goose but I think hers is surely a golden cow.

As we dodged “construction” on the sidewalks – men in dhotis with pick axes – we marveled at modern Indian men and women in business suits hurrying by. This seemed so incongruous in the context of what we’d just seen.

By noon at the conclusion of our walk we were soaked, tired and thirsty. Although it was a short distance back to the Taj, we opted for a taxi. We headed to the café for a lime soda, the most marvelous drink ever. I’m told they’re just lime juice, sugar syrup and soda water, but they’re better than any margarita or cocktail I’ve ever had.

After a very brief rest we headed back out, this time to take in museums and galleries we’d seen during our walking tour. First stop was a contemporary gallery showing very emerging Indian artists. Then to a wonderful museum containing ancient Indian sculptures and artifacts on the ground floor, arrange around a lovely domed atrium. On the second floor we saw a special exhibit about Krishna. Gorgeous music played in the background and I was determined to see if I could get the CD. I asked the security guard what it was and he referred me to the small bookshop downstairs. The bookshop had no idea and told me to go to a CD store around the corner and ask them…

But first we stopped next door to see a contemporary show called Informal Cities, about people who live at the margins of society and the terrible condition in which they live (ex under a bridge, in a favella, in shantytowns). Wonderful show with strong international artists represented.

Now we return to my hunt for music and Cliff’s ongoing hunt for Bollywood DVDs. It turns out he’d been referred to the same store, Rhythm House, so off we went. The store turned out to be quite good although they had no idea what music was playing in the Krishna exhibition. I bought a few CDs and hoped for the best.

By the time we returned to the Taj, Ferris and I were about to collapse. Cliff and Cathy had planned to meet Kashmera and Krushna for dinner. We all needed to pack our bags to prepare for a 4am wake-up call the next morning to get to the airport in time for a 7am flight to Aurangabad. Ferris and I decided to stay close to home for dinner and enjoyed Japanese food for a change on the top floor of the Taj Tower. We had a beautiful view over the city and the Arabian Sea. And sure enough, at the stroke at 10pm we got a call from the bell desk that our khadi clothes had just been delivered! Just under the wire.

Love Mumbai / 4 Nov 09

Me enjoying cocktails at the Taj bar, poolside.

View from our balcony of the Gateway to India.

The Taj Hotel.

The khadi shop owner.

Today we were excited to return to many of our favorite stores in Mumbai and explore a few new ones. Cathy is a devotee of the LOVE DELHI and MUMBAI books, which have certainly been a great resource on this trip. Our first stop was a khadi store (145 Prarthana Samaj, Mumbai 400004/ tel: 23856550, 23884577) a quick taxi ride from our hotel. The owner waited on us and before we knew it each of us had selected materials and been measured for khurtas (long tunic tops), salwars (loose pants) and churidars (narrow leg pants). We arranged to have our made to measure garments delivered to the hotel no later than 10pm the following evening. A tight timeframe given that we leave the hotel at 5 am the following morning!

After khadi purchases were complete we returned to the Taj to walk around in our own neighborhood. Stops included Bombay Electric, Ogaan (my favorite), the Courtyard Shops, and a handmade Indian shoe store located in the Taj arcade.

The Taj is clearly still under renovation (the old wing remains closed) after the tragic events that took place there just one year ago. We had left the hotel only ten days before when terrorists took hostages and killed many of the staff in late November ‘08. Today security (at least the outward visible signs) is heightened versus one year ago. Opposite the hotel and in various points around the block are camouflage tanks. But somehow the coloring and shape of the vehicles made them look more like cardboard toys than the real thing. We also noticed bunkers manned by heavily armed soldiers nearby the hotel.

During our stay hotel was bustling with tourists and dignitaries from all over the world. We were delighted to see that one of the most beautiful and famous hotels in the world continues to thrive. Our room is lovely and we have a gorgeous view of the Gateway to India from the balcony!

Jodhpur to Mumbai / 3 Nov 09

We were scheduled to depart Jodhpur on a 2pm flight and arrive Mumbai at 4pm. But it seems that flights having anything to do with Mumbai are perpetually delayed. The complicating factor is that we were to meet Cliff and Cathy’s friends, Bollywood actors Kashmera Shah and her boyfriend Krushna, for dinner and they were going to pick us up at the airport. Mumbai is a huge city and, like in LA, it takes forever to drive from one side to the other. Krushna and Kashmera live in far northern Mumbai. Our hotel, the Taj Mumbai, is in the extreme south. To make logistics easier, we’d previously made arrangements with our tour operator to take our luggage from the airport directly on to the Taj Mumbai. Although we arrived much later than planned, thanks to the conveniences of text messaging on our Indian phones, Cliff and Kashmera were in constant contact.

K&K arrived in two cars and whisked us north to their favorite part of town, Juhu. Juhu is a wealthy area of Mumbai with “bungalows” (think three story white houses ringed with balconies) where the rich and famous live. We pulled into the ultra-chic JW Marriott Hotel with Las Vegas-style fountains in front and security posts that retract into the ground to keep vehicles from approaching.

Dinner was a lavish series of buffets reflecting cuisine from all over the world. I made small talk with the chef (a stunningly good looking native of Mumbai) feigning interest in recipes. Kashmera is a vegetarian on Monday and Tuesdays (giving up meat for religious reasons) so she avoided meat dishes. We had no such dietary restrictions and filled our plates with shrimp, chicken, pizza – and I haven’t even mentioned the Indian foods we sampled.

After dinner K&K drove us to see a local beach and then to a birthday party for an actor friend at a club on the beach. At the party K&K posed for paparazzi and were interviewed for the press. Needless to say, they are a glamorous couple!