Sunday 15th - Aurangabad

Mr Pole's alarm goes off a few seconds before R's at 3.45 am. Our train is due in to Aurangabad at 4.05 so we get organised and packed up. The train stops but it is the station before ours. Not worth going back to bed for 20 minutes or so. We get in around 4.30. The Ps head for their hotel. D has booked a retiring room online for a huge 250 rupees but the time slot is 8 am to 8 pm. Hoping this is just a quirk of the system D goes to enquire but it isn't.  "Please use waiting room until 8 am". The chai at Aurangabad Station comes out of machines, tastes of little and has a frothy top. Not good.

We find seats in the Upper Class Waiting Room and while away the time. Constant announcements over the tannoy rule out sleep. At about 7.45 there is a shriek as R spots a mouse climbing up her bag. D is instructed to find an auto so we can relocate to the hotel and at least drop our bags there. Aurangabad's streets are pretty quiet at this time on a Sunday morning.  They are also rather unfinished, particularly at the edges. We are staying at the Oberoi Hotel, not one of the flash 5* ones, but a place recommended by a friend here in India. 

We are a bit early for check in so they recommend a restaurant for breakfast and we take a walk down there. The Kailash was empty when we arrived but it soon filled up. The food was good and the portions enormous.  D had to move his chair back to fit the dosa into the picture. We walked back up to the hotel where we are fairly soon sorted out with a room. In no time flat we are making with the zzzzzs.

After a couple of hours we rouse ourselves and check out some of the local facilities before taking an auto downtown. D has looked at the map in Lonely Planet and picked a street name that looks fairly central. The driver recognises the name and says "GPO?" which sounds good to us. We are dropped off somewhere in the third world with no shade and no written English.  We find an open Xerox shop. Does Xerox still exist anywhere else? They do us a copy of the map in the book so we can put that back in the bag.

We walk for quite a long time without getting lost. D realises that LP's Aurangabad map is on a smaller scale than most. We find the bus stance, not that we are likely to need it, and then see a crowd attended by candy floss sellers and the like. The map suggests that they are at the entrance to Siddarth Gardens. We cross the road to find out more. The only words of English anywhere are on the ticket cabin and suggest that Adult admission is Rs 10/-. Who could resist such a bargain?  Inside it is like pleasure gardens were in the 1960's UK.  There is a waterfall and a bridge over the waterway,  shady walks and families out for a promenade all dressed in their Sunday best. There are a few pay for add-ons such as an Aquarium and a Zoo that we can smell from the outside but we stick to basics and enjoy the stroll around. 

Moving on to an internet cafe we sort out a few things on the blog that cannot be managed on a tablet. Blogging is thirsty work. Our hotel has no bar but another in the same chain does so we head there by auto. We follow the signs to the Permit Room , full of very mellow chaps celebrating India's ODI cricket win over Pakistan. One of the hotel staff gently ushers us away and into the Family Restaurant where we can also get a beer. Ever since we got to Aurangabad we have been collecting quotes for transport to Ellora and Ajanta, the big attractions around here. LP recommends a company who have an office at the hotel where we are having refreshment. As we leave we enquire,  get a competitive quote and book a trip to Ellora tomorrow. 

For supper we choose a place called Tandoor, back towards the station. We stand outside the hotel looking for an auto. One of the share autos pulls up, already carrying 4 people. He tells us the fare is 10 rupees and makes the other passengers move around so we can sit. D's lousy map reading means that we get off 200 yards too early but it was fun. So was Tandoor where we have Chicken, Tandoori Cauliflower,  Peas Pulao and Naan. R gets into a discussion about cricket with some young Australians on the next table.  She tells them that Scotland will win the World Cup. Clearly it is time for bed.