Indien

Ellora Caves

So, this is the Last major location on my journey - Ellora Caves.

It is an amazing place. They are Buddha, Hindu & Jain caves build between the 6th and 9th century. And what a build - just purely carved out of the rock with the tech and tools from that time.

Some caves are so grand so massive and some carvings are so fine and detailed. Amazing! Everyone is talking about cave 16, the massive temple "Kailash". Two stories with grand hallways on the side and so detailed carvings. It's the biggest of its kind - bigger then the rock churches of Ethiopia. But my favorites are the number 29 with is grand scale made for movie sets and the Buddha Cathedral for it's absolutely assounding acoustics. Worth a visit!


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Mandu

Mandu

One of the few Lost Citys of India. Basically, Mandu was founded in the 10th/11th century and was major city until the 16th/17th century from where it degraded rapidly.

Today only the small Mandu Village is left surrounded by those mighty and plenty ruins. It's located on a plateau about 650m above sea level and ca 100 km west of Indore.

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Udaipur

Udaipur
A city enclosed by mountains and lakes and palace and palace and....... Some even call the city "Venice of the East", but in reality it has only about five bridges.

Anyway, for most it's known as location from James Bond Octopussy. A great city to relax, to shop and really just to don't do a lot.


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Ranakpur Jain Temple

Ranakpur Jain Temple

What a stunning temple made of marble. Hard to describe if you haven't seen it in real. Every corner full of rich and detailed carving. Breathtaking! The temple honors Adinath, the first Tirthankar of the present half-cycle (according to Jain cosmology / religion). Light colored marble has been used for the construction of this grand temple. The temple occupies an area of approximately 60 x 62 meters and has over 1444 marble pillars to support the temple structure. A must seen in India.


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Jodhpur

Jodhpur.

Probably the most Indian City I've visited so far. The fort in the background sets the scenery and then the blue city (compared to the pink one it is at least really colorful). The fort itself is oneof grand ones in India. The ones in Jaipur for example are dwarft ones compared this one and its massive walls.

But best is the street life and the bazar around the clock tower. Nice atmosphere and compared to the other cities very relaxed and laid back. Probably together with Amirtsar and Kolcutta my favorite places in India. The only downside is that its slightly of the normal track and a bit hard to reach.



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Jaipur

Jairpur.

A few photos from my stay at Jaipur. Jaipur is the capital of the Indian State Rajasthan. A lovely city with a lot this to see like the Observatory, the Amber Fort, the City palace (done a private tour) and Pink City. However, the pink city isn’t really pinkish anymore. More of an light orange and actually not so much color at all.

Also found a historic advanced AfghanCamera. Of course he took a foto of me.


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Ranthambhore National Park

Ranthambore National Park.

Mission accomplished - Mietzekatze plus Mietzekätzchen. And one more Safari to go at Ranthambhore National Park.


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Agra Red Fort

Agra.

Agra Fort is the former imperial residence of the Mughal Dynasty located in Agra, India. Originally the fort was built by Lodi but the Mughal under the pretense of renewing the fort tried to get rid of who built it originally. Since then a lot of false history has been attached to this fort. This means once you are inside you see construction types historic elements & periods and different materials which really do not fit together in places. But it is still very beautiful and a must visit place in Agra.


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Taj Mahal

Taj Mahal

This is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the South bank of the Yamuna River in the Indian city of Agra and really needs no introduction. It was commissioned in 1632 by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan to house the tomb of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal. I was there with the sunrise, which is best time to see the majestic complex. You should spend there at least three hours to see most a of it and to get a good overview what this place really is.


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Kalkutta

Kolkata

This is the place were the British Empire entered into India and the East India Trading Company came to live. At the beginning there was nothing apart from shallow waters and a small fishing village. The British took the place for trading purposes and established a hup. At one time it was the second largest city of the British Empire. And it was the Capital of the Indian Part of the Empire, before the capital was moved to New Delhi.

Stayed there for four nights and went from the Eden Garten Cricket stadium to the Victoria Memorial to Mother Teresas house. Love this place. It's better than its image.


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Corbett National Park

The Corbett National Park - Home of the Indian Tiger. Founded by British hunter and wildlife expert Jim Corbett. It is the oldest National Park in India. I stayed at Jims Jungle Retreat for two nights and had two 3:45 private safaris. The Retreat i very lovely with attention to detail etc, but pricey. Sadly I didn’t see the tiger but saw his tracks, favorite areas, hunting places etc. The problem was that at this time of the year after the monsum season the jungle is so dense that you really cannot see that much. However it was still very lovely!!!


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On the road

The drive from Shimla onwards to the Nepal Board was a nightmare. Awful traffic, traffic jams everywhere, f***ing lorries, bikes, dust and what else. Not pleasant, the wort every in my life so far. Only the stopp in between at the Corbett National Park was nice.


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Shimla

Shimla - the former Summer Capital of the British Empire. This place should scream brightness in India. But really it doesn’t. Yes, the old Old buildings are still there but thats it. Nothing really about the history, the past, the Emprie, not even a single British or Irish Pub around. But the basar and the atmosphere made up for the shortcomings. They also realized that those shortcomings are important and a bonus for the tourism, but they are only building up the place slowly. It will take a few years to come.


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On the Road to Shimla

Once I left the so beautiful Ladakh aka Little Tibet the next destination was Shimla. Again I went for the Backroads, but this time I was pleasantly surprised. One of the most beautiful backroads so far. Some stretches looked like Switzerland or North Italy. Took about two days to reach Shimla.


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Amritsar - The golden Temple

The Golden Temple or officially known as Harmandir Sahib. This is the main sanctuary of the Sikh movement. It is said that this is also the place were Alexander the Great was on his final treck into India. The temple surrounds a peaceful atmosphere and you could easily spend hours. On a side note the temple facilities also provide free food for more than 80’000 people per day.


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Amritsar City

Once the border crossing was done I followed the Great Trunk road to Amritsar. This is the cultural centre of the Sikh movement. Their sanctuary is the Golden Temple (see next post). The city itself is one of the smaller once (about 1.1m people) but already very vibrance. the old city developed in the 17th and 18th century. Also, it is know for a very dark hour in 1919 when the British Army killed hundreds of civilians during a friendly unrest (The Jallianwala Bagh Massacre). Stayed for 2 days.


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