For the last three days, we have been running hard to get to the finish line. However, we have also been able to see some fantastic sights along the way.
At one of the hotels, one of the employees told us that we must see BiBi-Ka-Mukbara.
What we were told is this is another tomb similar to the Taj Mahal. Even with the same type of story. So, knowing we weren't going to see the Taj on this adventure, we knew we should try to spend some time there.
It was great to see this, and the architecture alone was magnificent! Allowing ourselves to explore a bit, we had a chance to go inside and take a peek. Underneath the dome was a large room, below, that people were continuously tossing money in.
We quickly went through the building and then headed back to find our rickshaw and keep on moving. The next stop was about 150 kilometers north, the Ellora Caves. These caves were separated into three different areas. One area was for the Buddhist, another was the Hindu, and finally was the Jain. It all depended on who occupied the area at the time. They were built from the 7th - 9th century. A guy came up to us asking if he could be our guide. Knowing that we really knew nothing about the place, we were in. Afterwards, we all decided that was absolutely the best choice. These caves were amazing and every single room in these huge caverns had a purpose, depending on the religion that occupied at the time. Through out the tour, many Indians, in the habit of our adventure, stopped and asked to have their picture taken with us. We were told that this entire structure and everything within was cut from one large rock that was in the side of the mountain. Once this rock was discovered they pulled back any dirt that could be layering the sides and top and then began carving from all directions. On the way out, we were bombarded by shop owners, begging us to visit their stand to look at their goods. We decided to buy a few things to take home. What we did notice was the "walk away" technique worked perfect in this instance. As soon as they thought you were leaving the shop, the prices dropped dramatically. Usually to almost 1/2 the original offer. As we headed out of the caves, we noticed a few other runners driving in to see the caves including our original caravan partners, "Fire it Up". We got to our destination village late in the evening and, once again, the Here navigation program took us on a very creative route. Next thing we know, Danny is driving through an extremely busy town market. Of course, everyone has to stop and stare or laugh as we tuk-tuk through this area, making his driving job that much more stressful. With a little help from the locals, we were led out of the market before we did any (major) damage to any of the 100's of carts or motorbikes that were completely thrown in to sell goods (we did clip one bike's footrest says Danny.... Joanna and I are sure he ran it completely over and backed up to make sure he bent the frame the first time over....why let the truth get in the way of a good story!)
