DAY FIVE - FARDAPUR TO KHANDWA - 260km

Today began with yet another unsatisfying shower with cold water and a bucket.

However after a thankfully delicious and cooked breakfast I was ready to take on the Ajanta Caves, driving, Shelley’s driving, men with sticks, dead dogs and men on the side of the roads taking a slash and number two…..as you do!

The Ajanta caves certainly enlightened me as I love anything to do with the Buddhist culture and the caves themselves were just phenomenal. If you could imagine how much work actually went into carving the things into the rocks, it is truly amazing. Advanced were the wall paintings inside the caves for their time, telling the stories the people in those times. It seems their sexuality and sensuality had been widely spoken of back in the old days and well advanced.

I was forced to drive the Rickshaw again today and after a few kangaroo hops and launches off speed humps and roads bumps, I was a fully fledged professional Rickshaw wallah. I also managed to take our Shaw over the 1000km mark for our journey, whoop! Whoop! –Which would have gone unnoticed without the attentive eyes of Gordon and Shelley darling. Five hours later and I was finally allowed to take a break from the handle bars, yeay!!!! Very tough day up front as your concentration levels have to be in tiptop shape or you’ll crash, be crashed into or run off the road!

While on the road today we happened to come across a small town that according to reports were, it was dangerous to tourists, told to beware of local folk with sticks we decided to cover up and drive at Rickshaw record speeds out of the town with our action plan if sticks should strike the Rickyshaw.

Shelley turned into a speed freak today also taking on many semi’s and again about 3 massive moo cow’s. Hats off to the woman as I now know what its like to compete with these huge truck and their psychedelic painting and horns now.

If sticks weren’t enough to scare us tourists off the roads, then maybe a few dead dogs on the side of the road were, stray dogs are very common in India and this is one of the culture shocks I have certainly come across. Dogs are definitely not seen in the same light as they are in the western world, however cows are seen as a very holy and treasured animal. As well as the dire state of canine’s in this country seeming odd to me, I was also surprised to see the number of men taking a dump on the side of the road tonight. I think they like the spot light here.

Eventually after slaving myself for hours behind the handle bars and surviving a few near misses with Shelley behind the wheel we arrived at our humble grand hotel, “The Hotel Grand” in Khandwa. It was dead noice! Lots of bugs, ants and not a lot of beer or sheets to sleep in, ahhhhh……Incredible India!