June 11, 2007

Hi Everyone –

It has been a fun week – Craig picked up his suit on Wednesday and it was wonderful. He is very pleased with how it turned out and he says it makes him stand a little taller. I think we have fed him too well and the pants are snug. We need to check that today and see if we need to take them back in for altering before he goes back to the U.S.

We had a road trip this weekend. Doug decided we needed to see some sights. We went to Aurangabad, which is 220 km from Pune, but it took 5 ½ hours to drive there. We left Saturday morning and came home Sunday night. The reason Doug picked Aurangabad is because there are some cool carved caves and an old fort.

We had reservations at a 5-star hotel (questionable) and we checked in there first and had lunch. Then we went to the fort. It was built in the 1100’s and was amazing. It was cloudy and a little cooler that afternoon. We hiked all the way to the top and looked out over the valley.

It was amazing the way they fortified themselves on the top of the mountain. There were 2 moats – a wet one and a dry one. You can see the funny green color in the one picture – that’s the water in the moat. They kept crocodiles in there as well. It was half way up the mountain too. I don’t know how they did that. The dipping down staircase was also original and they could fill the moat with enough water to cover the stairs so their enemies couldn’t get across.

We kept going up and up the stairs. There was also a pitch dark staircase to climb through as well – also to fool their enemies. I couldn’t see a thing and we really needed a flashlight, but we had none. We just went by feel. There were plenty of bats flying around too. There were monkeys in the trees on the way up the hill too.

One of the craziest things about this place were the Indian tourists. We had to pay 200 rupees each to get in. The Indians paid 5 rupees. Then they would stop us everywhere and ask to have their picture taken with us. It was amazing! Everyone would ask us! We were good sports about it, since we stuck out like sore thumbs!

We were really tired that night and had dinner and went to bed. Craig found a snake in the grass at the hotel, but I was just too tired to really care, but he went snake hunting again later, and only found sticks. Disappointing!

Sunday morning we were ready to go see the caves. They were carved out starting 760 A.D. They were amazing also. We also had to pay the premium to get in, while the Indians could just get in for 5 rupees. This place was even worse! If we even stopped to rest anywhere, someone would ask for a picture. I have never shaken so many hands and smiled so much. Sometimes they would get all of us, sometimes Doug would just stand behind all the hoopla and laugh because we were being pushed around so much. We decided we should ask for 5 rupees for each picture, or maybe even 5 rupees for each person they put in the picture. But we didn’t, and we tried to be good sports. It sure does slow down the sightseeing!

Also, there were hawkers there selling their fine wares. They about drive a person crazy! One decided to be my personal friend and followed us the whole time. Doug got a picture of him trying to sell me a garnet necklace. The prices certainly get lower as you get closer to the car to leave. I did get a carved elephant “family” candle stand for 150 rupees ($3). I’m not sure whether it’s worth the price to pay more at the beginning and not have them follow you around the whole day!

We also went to a tomb that was copied from the Taj Mahal. It was a miniature version made out of lesser materials as well. We can’t decide whether to check it off our sightseeing list or not. It was not very grand, so maybe the original really is better. However, the pictures are pretty good for fooling someone.

We asked the driver about lunch and he stopped at a Dhaba (or rest stop/truck stop/roadside café) for us. We made sure we had cooked food and bottled water. They treated us very well and the food was cheap! We ate for $7 at the Punjab dhaba and for $22 at the hotel the day before. The food was better at the dhaba too!

The car ride home was rough. There was lots of road construction and plenty of trucks and rickshaws on the road. It was mostly hurry up and wait kind of driving. We got home just after dark. I really don’t like driving in the dark here. It’s too crazy and you can’t see the people/bicycles/vehicles at all.

We hope all is well with you. We miss you and love you lots!
Love, Lucinda