Mr Wise Guy Blog

We went shopping last Thursday as part of our field trip. My strategy for souvenirs and saris is to shop on the last month of GIP, so that those souvenirs would not be a burden when I travel around. Thus, I did not buy anything, but just tag along to look see.

We headed to this super crowded place, about 2km away from school. They say a picture speaks a thousand words. So this post has about 30,000 words.



























I would probably get a sari for mom, sis and my 2 cute godmothers. Other than that, will probably get a model of the Taj Mahal when I get to Agra on the last few days I'm in India.

Currently I need to buy a tie, a pair of formal shoes (after this one breaks), a pair of jalan shoes (after this one breaks), a pair of Ray Ban sunglasses, a leather jacket, and perhaps a new pair of spectacles. Gee whiz, so many things to buy, so little money to spend! hehe.

Our Ajanta adventure took place the following day, and the journey was a 'short' 2 hours. Ajanta is a UNESCO world heritage site, making it a significant place of visit here in Maharastra. The caves at Ajanta were abandoned by 480AD. During the next 1300 years the jungle grew back and the caves were hidden, unvisited and undisturbed until the Spring of 1819 when a British officer in the Madras army entered the steep gorge on the trail of a tiger.


Somehow, deep within the tangled undergrowth, he came across the almost hidden entrance to one of the caves. Exploring that first cave, long since a home to nothing more than birds and bats and a lair for other, larger, animals, Captain Smith wrote his name in pencil on one of the walls. Still faintly visible, it records his name and the date, April 1819.



We had to climb about a hundred steps up before seeing the caves. They are carved out from the rock face, once again, top-down. We were duly rewarded with the breathtaking view of 28 cave entrances, magically popping out from the rocks. It was nice~
























Personally, I thought Ajanta was nicer in a way because of the way the caves were constructed. The cliff was in the shape of the letter U and it was nice to see them all nicely lined up. I wish I could write more, but time is short, and I have to conclude this post now, or else there will be no internet at night.

Anyways, most of the guys now are sick and only about 3 of us (including me) are feeling well. Pray for our fast recovery and may we move on to the second stage of GIP (attachment) safely and in good spirit.