Visit to Aurangabad - Ajanta Ellora

laxmikant

I agree with dillichat.
rest on 29th with some local sightseeing.
on 30th you can visit ellora,daulatabad fort and bibi ka makbara and on 31st you can visit ajanta.
its better to hire a car so you can take your own time to enjoy the beauty of these world heritage sites.

delhiwala

Why not bus/public transport ?

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rsk11584

bus / public transport tours are guided ones and even I have experience of guided n non guided tours,, just last month when I went to pune we were planning to take pune darshan the bus,, which takes u around pune, but since v had our own vehicle we directly went to the famous museum kelkar museum its total having three floors of artefacts, and one can easily spend 2-3 hours there, but in the guided tour the guide hushes you and in half an hour you need to leave the museum because in one day you need to view some 20 odd places,,, so better to book your own private car / taxi because if you calculate the rate also car / taxi will be cheap or not much more than the bus / public transport tours,

I am advising because I know what you can see in public transport and with own hired care,,

delhiwala

In your last post you said that with taxi you can cut down on Caves ????

Why will anybody go to Ajanta, if he wish to cut down on caves !!

May be true for city tours. But for Ajanta and Ellora tours, they are easy paced......

rsk11584

Cut down on caves means you can view the main caves and leave the rest of the caves, the caves are numbered,,, so it happens that all caves are not at all opened most of times,,coz of some renovation work,, changes etc,,,

so it might happen that in the row of caves there might be some 2-3 closed caves n after that there might be a cave open to see, so many tourists prefer to skip some caves,, and private taxis travel faster than buses , so u can select ur own time,, and easily complete ajanta by afternoon or till evening ,, and in evening u can do some sightseeing as ellora is totally opposite u can do ellora some other day,,

bruce3404

I agree that taking a private taxi is a better and certainly more comfortable and efficient way to see the sights. I did both, with the first day on the bus to Ajanta and the second day in a taxi for the Ellora caves, the fort and the Baby Taj. For two people on the bus it was around $8; in a cab, around $20.

What we found with the bus tour was that there were too many patrons for each guide; then all the non-bus-riding tourists clamored around our guide to a point that the crowds were so large that we just walked the rest of the caves on our own. On the second day (with the taxi), we just brought our LP along and while we didn't quite get the detail a guide might have offered, I thought we got a good overview. Besides, anyone who has been on tour after tour realizes that you forget about 90% of what the guides tell you as they drone on hour after hour with fact after fact.

delhiwala

Yes ! I have done both Ajanta and Ellora, and I too took a taxi from an Mohit Travels, opposite MTDC resort.

But later I talked to another group in our hotel about their bus tour and they were happy about it.

See my other thread ! on Aurngabad.

dillichaat

Having taken the MTDC tours to both Ellora and Ajanta, I think they offer good value for money and agree with Delhiwala that they're quite slow-paced by Indian standards. However, especially the Ellora tour is really packed with things to see and if you really want to explore things in-depth you might be disappointed.

The Ellora tour visits Daulatabad, Ellora, a temple, Aurangzeb's tomb, Bibi-qa-maqbara and panchakki.

Personally I felt that some of the sites merited more time, you could easily spend a couple of hours at Daulatabad alone whereas the tour took one hour. The temple that was visited is very special for hindu people as there's a Shiva-lingam sprouting out of the ground -hindu people reading this, please correct me if I'm wrong- but apart from this it holds little architectural value imho. Time spent at Ellora was ok but once again, if you're a cave/sculpture buff, better rent a car and spend an entire day there.

Panchakki is a lovely site but the water-wheel is -at least to Europeans- nothing special as we have bunches of those in Europe.

The group I was in skipped Aurangzeb's tomb although it's in the tour. I think mainly because the bus driver and guide didn't feel like going there, they of course claimed there was no time because the group took to long at the other monuments but that didn't stop them from pulling over at an emporium later.

Bottom line: yes, the MTDC tours are good but if you have a particular interest in one or more sites, better rent a car and do them by yourself at leisure. Of course, this will mean spending more than 2 days in Aurangabad.

WeaKnee

Hetapeta, if you are still checking this thread here are some tips. I got back from Ajanta-Ellora few days ago:

1.Do NOT do Ajanta & Ellora on the same day. Ajanta is two and a half hrs away from Aurangabad and it is baking hot.

2.MTDC guest house at Ajanta T Junction (not the one at Fardapur)is mind blowing. Can be booked online. We stayed there. Only issue is the place gets deserted after 6 - 7 pm and if other cottages are not occupied you will start feeling creepy. But if you are in a group of more than 1 family, this is the place to be.

3.Liked Ajanta for the site identification, dedication and its serenity. Incredible is an understatement. Unfortunetely the stream will be dry in May. Can't imagine how it would have been 1500 yrs ago when nature blended with this religious education and architecture. Closes at 6pm - so reach it atleast by 1 pm.

4.The organised bus tour from MTDC in Aurangabad to Ellora is very comfortable and wallet friendly. But the only problem is they skip some critical caves at Ellora so that they can show you Panchakki & Bibi Ki Maqabra. Sad. They skipped the significant Cave-21(Rameswara) for us. I pleaded them to dump Bibi Ki & Panchaki - they would not listen. So if you want convenience and cut costs, MTDC tour is THE answer and if you want to cover the whole of Ellora, take a cab. Classic Travels which has a counter in MTDC hotel books both bus and cab and is preferable to the ITDC counter. We stayed at MTDC.

5.Do NOT miss Daulatabad Fort at any cost! Very cunning in its design.

hetapeta

Thanks for your inputs WeaKnee. Will keep in mind.

mumbaihermit

Hi All..
Suddenly decided to take off for a two day trip to Aurangabad... will be reaching there today night.. will start back on Sunday night... will be staying at MTDC... However, there is too much to see and too little time... as always
Now please advice me as to how i can pack Ajanta, Ellora, Daulatabad and Lonar Crater in 2 days.... everything is a must do....

bruce3404

That's easy. Just take the MTDC tours. One day you go out to Ajanta. The next day you get Ellora and Daulatabad. Tours leave right from the hotel. Not sure about the Lonar Crater, since you'd probably need another day (or a lot of daylight) to schedule a trip out there. Of course, you could just hire a driver and make a very long day and see Ellora, Daulatabad and Lonar on the same day and then do the MTDC tour to Ajanta on a different day (when I did it, it took pretty much the whole day, due to the distance involved).

dillichaat

No way to do the sights AND Lonar in 2 days I think. Just driving out there takes a couple of hours by rented car. The MTDC tours to Daulatabad, Ellora / Ajanta take 2 full days. You might be able to squeeze in Lonar by taking a private cab, leaving at 5:30 am for Lonar, racing back to Ellora/Daulatabad and dropping some of the stuff (like panchakki etc) on the MTDC tour. I wouldn't recommend it, though.

If I were you I'd drop Lonar (I've been there). It's nice but not THAT nice imho.

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srshenoy

Cant do all of that in 2 days, been there done that. You can take the ITDC or Classic Tours and do Ajanta on Day1 and Ellora/Daulatabad on Day2. Also check whether the caves are open on your tour date ! No way you can combine Lonar with any of those. Lonar is in a different direction than ajanta and ellora and 160 km drive one-way. Only way to see them all is if you sit inside the car and drive past all of the sights ! Mind you even the guided tours do not show you all of the caves, they only show the main caves and sculptures yet it takes up a full day.

mumbaihermit

Hey guys...
Did all the bit mentioned above in two days.. was a bit hectic.. but still managed...
Reached aurangabad on 2nd evening.. Stayed at MTDC..
Hired a cab to take me to Daulatabad fort and Ellora on the next day and drop me off at Ajanta.. stayed at MTDC..
Started early morning and reached the caves at dot 9am when they open
Finished by about 1.30am...
Started for Lonar.. (it is about 115 Kms away... and it was raining enroute)...
Reached Lonar at about 4.45 pm.. (with a 30 mins lunch break in between)
Went to the Crater and did some temples too... (of course couldnt do a circumambulation of the crater as i would have wished too ) but i guess i am happy with whatever i could manage... Amazing place... a Must Do....

Started back from Lonar at 6.30..
Reached Aurangabad at 9.15pm... (with a 15 mins tea break at sindhked raja)..

Took the night bus back to mumbai...

A bit hectic... but fulfilling