Yesterday Dana and I went to the Karla Caves that are about an hour from Pune. We were asked about a week ago if we wanted to share a car with some other women who are also studying this month at the institute. We arrived at the meeting place at 6:30am Sunday morning. This is very early for Indian standards. The 7 of us and our driver pile into an SUV and we are on our way. Our plan from early on was to stop for breakfast and drive up to a few lookouts over the countryside before we went to the caves. Our driver was pumping the global dance music from the start, some Indian, lots of American rap and pop. It was a party from the time the car started moving.
We get to the breakfast stop at about 8, this was after stopping to ask at least 4 times to see if anything was open at that time. I think we turned around in the middle of the street a few times, we came very close to hitting a cow. The driver just honked and honked and the cow just walked slowly our of our way. The little town we to was full of cows, people, trash, and smells. We order a round of chai and breakfast. When the food begins arriving I see my favorite Pooha come to the table. I did not order it and was a little sad about it but Dana and I had brought some eggs and fruit to be safe. You never go anywhere in India without snacks, water, and some sort of sanitizer be it wipe kind of the liquid kind. We get back on the road about an hour later and drive up a long and winding mountain road. At the beginning of the ascent one of the beautiful Itlaians yells out, "La cascada! La cascada!" It was one of those comments that will stick with me forever, the way she said it, and her excitement while saying it. While we are steadily moving up the hill passing other cars, honking at each other and praying we do not hit anything or a pothole, it is getting foggy and very rainy. At this stopping point the rain was blowing sideways! We ended up stopping for a bit since the rain was so bad and someone else in the car felt a little car sick. While sitting in the car, a small boy came up through the dense fog and asked if we wanted a chai. I could not figure out where he was coming from, but when he ran away when we said no we saw a small shelter in the fog about a 100 yards away.
We get back on the road, decide the fog and rain are too much to fight with and drive to the Karla cave. Once we finally get there we walk up a hill and along the way are people selling sweets, roasted corn, and offerings for the temple at the top. We pay for our tickets and go to the cave. The Karla caves date back to 160 B.C.! We go inside and cannot believe the size of the carvings inside. Ganesh and many other Hindu Gods are depicted here. Here is a link to read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karla_Caves
We get back on the road and decide to go back to Pune to get a bite for lunch. I am amazed once again at the agility of these Indian drivers. I am not as scared as I was in the beginning, I may actually be getting used to the flow of traffic here. We are barreling down the road swerving to miss people, dogs, other cars, rickshaws. Once we arrive back in Pune we have another chai, a bite to eat and go to the German bakery near the Osho ashram. The bakery was bombed a few years back so we have to count how many were in our party and go through a metal detector. This bakery is full of pastries that are mostly chocolate. Indians love their chocolate!
After yesterday I realized that I will not be so scared anymore of being a passenger. I want to formally apologize to my husband about all the crap I give him in the car. He could be a great taxi or rickshaw driver here in India if his current job doesn't work out:-)
We get to the breakfast stop at about 8, this was after stopping to ask at least 4 times to see if anything was open at that time. I think we turned around in the middle of the street a few times, we came very close to hitting a cow. The driver just honked and honked and the cow just walked slowly our of our way. The little town we to was full of cows, people, trash, and smells. We order a round of chai and breakfast. When the food begins arriving I see my favorite Pooha come to the table. I did not order it and was a little sad about it but Dana and I had brought some eggs and fruit to be safe. You never go anywhere in India without snacks, water, and some sort of sanitizer be it wipe kind of the liquid kind. We get back on the road about an hour later and drive up a long and winding mountain road. At the beginning of the ascent one of the beautiful Itlaians yells out, "La cascada! La cascada!" It was one of those comments that will stick with me forever, the way she said it, and her excitement while saying it. While we are steadily moving up the hill passing other cars, honking at each other and praying we do not hit anything or a pothole, it is getting foggy and very rainy. At this stopping point the rain was blowing sideways! We ended up stopping for a bit since the rain was so bad and someone else in the car felt a little car sick. While sitting in the car, a small boy came up through the dense fog and asked if we wanted a chai. I could not figure out where he was coming from, but when he ran away when we said no we saw a small shelter in the fog about a 100 yards away.
We get back on the road, decide the fog and rain are too much to fight with and drive to the Karla cave. Once we finally get there we walk up a hill and along the way are people selling sweets, roasted corn, and offerings for the temple at the top. We pay for our tickets and go to the cave. The Karla caves date back to 160 B.C.! We go inside and cannot believe the size of the carvings inside. Ganesh and many other Hindu Gods are depicted here. Here is a link to read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karla_Caves
We get back on the road and decide to go back to Pune to get a bite for lunch. I am amazed once again at the agility of these Indian drivers. I am not as scared as I was in the beginning, I may actually be getting used to the flow of traffic here. We are barreling down the road swerving to miss people, dogs, other cars, rickshaws. Once we arrive back in Pune we have another chai, a bite to eat and go to the German bakery near the Osho ashram. The bakery was bombed a few years back so we have to count how many were in our party and go through a metal detector. This bakery is full of pastries that are mostly chocolate. Indians love their chocolate!
After yesterday I realized that I will not be so scared anymore of being a passenger. I want to formally apologize to my husband about all the crap I give him in the car. He could be a great taxi or rickshaw driver here in India if his current job doesn't work out:-)
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