Ellora

Ellora cave (18. – 22.12.)

Over a period of 5 centuries monk of Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism did carve caves and temples into the rocks. They created 34 caves – 12 Buddhist (AD 600-800), 17 Hindu (AD 600-900) and 5 Jain (AD 800-1000). Some were breathtaking, real art.

The masterpiece is Kailasa Tempel. Dedicated to Shiva, it is the world largest monolithic sculpture, hewn from the rock by 7000 laborers over a 150-year period. They removed 200.000 tons of rocks. We spend some 4 hours to visit all caves and were fascinated about these marvelous rock sculptures and carvings. Always again: It is amazing what men can build.

We left for Mumbai at 5am, very nice time of the day. At least we have seen a beautiful sunrise. Around midday we arrived Mumbai and we checked in in our former hotel. Right now in India is peak season so we booked the room in advance.

We strolled around the Colaba area and went to the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal hotel. Everywhere is police and to enter the area of the Gateway of India you have to go through metal detector.

The next day we walked around Churchgate and really enjoyed the old buildings such as the Prince of Wales Museum, the High Court, the University and the St. Thomas Cathedral.

Afterwards we drove to Chowpatty Beach and were so shocked. It was low tide and everywhere was trash. We didn’t even dare to put our feed in the water cause it is toxic. What is India going to do about all the littering and trash? We dreamed of our beautiful beaches at Perhentian Island and left very soon.

In the evening we went to Leopolds, one of the hip bars here in Mumbai and just next to our hotel. We had a great conversation with two Indians and with a few pitchers of beer.

Tonight we take the sleeper train to Goa and meet with Micha’s parents in the morning. Hopefully they can fly after all this snow chaos in Europe.