Marathon - Day 4

We went to visit Pune’s very own caves called the Pataleshwar Cave Temple. It is a rock cut excavation that was made in 8-9^th century AD. The temple is dedicated to the Hindu God, Lord Shiva. The caves and carvings are nowhere near as impressive as the Karla Caves but I still find it all quite amazing considering that when they were made the tools they would’ve used were very limited.

Marathon - Day 3

Day 3 was a slow start. Before coming out here, my dad was trying to organise a sightseeing trip for us all to see Delhi, Agra and Jaipur. Unfortunately the trip we had fell through so organising another one is what we spent most of the day doing. After waiting for email responses and phone calls back and forth, we finally got another tour sorted through Go Heritage Journeys India. Phew! It was a relief considering we were supposed to be going in two days from then.

Marathon - Day 2

Day 2 of our sightseeing was a spot of retail therapy in Pune. I wanted to show my parents a popular shopping area called Mahatma Gandhi (MG) Road or Main Street where they have everything from small independent sellers to Reebok and The United Colors of Benetton. It’s a 15 minute auto rickshaw ride away and we arrived just after 1pm. Unfortunately we were a bit early for most of the shops, here, they tend to open up in the morning, close for a few hours at lunch and then open up again in the afternoon. We did have a walk up and down the street though and looked at all the old buildings with their closed shops hidden behind old rickety wooden shutters.

Sightseeing Marathon!

Well, sorry I haven’t been around for a while, my parents have been over visiting us and we have all been on a marathon of sightseeing both here in Pune then onto Delhi, Agra and Jaipur.

The first stop of our sightseeing marathon was the Karla Caves which are impressive man made Buddhist caves that date back to approximately to the 2nd century BC. They are near a small hill station called Lonavala, which is located high up in the mountains on the National Highway that connects Mumbai and Pune. It is a popular destination for locals who want to escape the hustle and bustle of the cities and get some respite from the heat.

Cycling Madness! (Oh and a bit of volunteering)

I decided to cycle to Deep Griha Society on my first day. It is about 3 miles away and fortunately most of the journey is on level ground.

I got up, was dressed and ready to leave on time only to find that my bike had flat tyres and I didn't have a pump or anything to fix them! Luckily, just opposite my apartment is a little man that sits at the side of the road fixing bicycles for people. I walked over with my bike and asked him to pump my tyres, he charged me 30 rupees, pumped them up and I was then ready to be on my way.