Yes, another early start but today I was going to take it a bit easier and hire a scooter to see the sights around Aurangabad. I did a bit of research and there was a scooter rental round the corner from the hotel, so all good. As it happened, despite a polished website, Bluebird Rentals  was basically a young lad with his parents operating from their house. However, top quality service and I got a nifty little Honda for 500Rs (£5) for the day. NB They made sure I had my International Driving Permit with me as well – a first for India!

A couple of days ago I had seen the very simple grave of the great Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Today, the first stop was the Bibi Maq Bara, the mausoleum of his wife, Rabia Durani, who happened to be the daughter-in-law of Mumtaz Mahal, for whom the Taj Mahal was built. And it is very much in its style. Not quite as impressive but much, much quieter.

The mausoleum is just outside the old Mughal city so I had to go through one of the old gates: This one being the Makai (Mecca) Gate.

One of the differences between Bibi and the Taj is that here the decoration is plasterwork and it doesn’t have the inlaid precious stones found in the Taj.

Then it was time for a mid morning snack. Poha rassa is a new one for me but apparently is a popular Maharashtran dish. The Poha is flattened rice and the rassa is a spicy gravy. Very nice it was too.

I then left the city behind travelling to the hills a few kilometres to the north and the Aurangabad Caves. No where near as famous as the contemporaneous Ajanta caves, excavated in the 5th and 6th centuries, they were still pretty impressive. There are 9 caves in all, some not completed or partially collapsed, in two groups, the Western group, 1-5 and then another group about a kilometer to the East, Caves 6-9. Although not as impressive as Ajanta or Ellora, the setting was very attractive with great views over the city and very few people about.

Here’s a video I made of Cave 2:

And here’s a vid of Cave 7:

Normally it’s young lads but this time a group of ladies asked for a photo.

From the caves I spotted a lake not too far away so I went down to investigate and do a bit of bird watching. Not much luck with the birds but I was met by an inquisitive Indian Mongoose.

 

Coming back into the city via the Delhi Gate.

I’m always keen to explore the inner cities, especially the market area. Here is man selling chickpeas.

This is a paan seller:

Making Indian sweets – Jalebi

 

I also took a little video while on the bike driving around the inner city:

 

Travels completed for the day, I return the bike to Bluebird rentals.

Then back to the Hotel Pearls. Not a bad hotel or room.

More photos of the day here

And a map of the whole trip here: