Hawkers

One of the more unpleasant things about traveling in India is undoubtedly the hawkers. This is an especially irritating scourge because they're most prevalent at the most popular tourist sites, so in order to see the most beautiful, interesting, and historic places in India, one is forced to run a gauntlet of seedy people reciting a constant stream of "Hello" "Your name?" "You from?" "Very good price, look here", etc. Not the best way to leave a good impression. I've even thought of writing to the tourism ministry (department, whatever it is) about how detrimental this is to the foreign tourist business in the country. I've lived here for 8 months, and this weekend was almost all I could take of people trying to sell me picture books, tiny glass Ganeshes, stones, and any other item of marginal value that they can get their hands on.

Fortunately, some of the places are worthwhile enough that one can put up with the nonsense. I hit two of the better-known ones this weekend, and had a surprise thrown in. First was Ajanta, then Ellora, and then the fort of Daulatabad. Ajanta and Ellora are two sets of caves filled with ancient paintings and rock carvings. I expected them to be worthy of their reputation, and they did not disappoint. Contrary to popular opinion, I think I liked Ajanta a bit more, partly because of the more interesting setting around the outside of a bend of a river, but also because there were significantly fewer hucksters trying to sell me things. But the real surprise was the Daulatabad fort, which turned out to be interesting, historic, and prettier than I expected. I had actually never heard of it until Friday, but some people at work recommended that I stop there on the way to or from Ellora. So I did, and I hired a guide (one thing India tourism does well - the official guides are generally quite good), and got two hours of stories and explanation as we went through the trap doors, holes for boiling oil, curving pitch black tunnels, etc. All in all, worth the visit. (A good thing, because I've been wanting to go to those places since the first trip to Bombay five years ago.)

Pictures to come soon.