Day 4

Another long day. I'm still working but thought I'd post this while I get a chance in between writing emails.

The day consisted mainly of mapping out supply chains with a major European retailer and their suppliers, talking through projects and planning the next stages.

At 4pm ish we stopped and headed for the Ellora Caves for a very brief tour followed by evening meal and some superb Indian musicians to entertain us. I caught the route on GPS so here's exactly where we went for those interested in that sort of thing. If you do download the KML to Google Earth - you can actually see the largest man made monolithic structure in the world that I mention later to the right of the end point.

Here is the KML you need. Ellora Caves KML

The caves are amazing. Not naturally formed but hand carved by man. They were made over a many hundreds of years. Beginning sometime in the 7th century, when the Chalukyas (AD 553 - 753) ruled the Deccan area, these wayfarers decided to make their presence permanent. The first excavations started on a number of Buddhist chaityas and viharas. Other faiths joined in as well, and over the next five centuries, Hindus and Jains also built their temples in the rocks there. They are really worth a visit if you ever get a chance.





The largest monolithic man made structure in the world is also here. The carving took 150 years to make and is sort of dug out from the surrounding rock. This is what appears in the pictures above. They don't really do it justice.

Unfortunately we didn't have long at the caves, you really need a day here to see them properly.



We had dinner nearby in a restaurant look out towards the caves. It was a beautiful setting as the sun went down.





A small group of musicians played and it was very atmospheric. I'm not sure what it was they were smoking in their pipe but it smelled "interesting" and seemed to get the music going! These folks are apparently pretty famous and I now have a CD to listen to in the car to remind me of the evening. (Thanks Terry!)



Sadly Farhan didn't make it to the caves having been held up at the police station for 4 hours trying to resolve his inadvertent incorrect registration on arrival.