Sanchi, May 1

Once upon a time, on a voyage straight through the back bones of India, from south to north. This is a quest with a mission: getting to Delhi in time before the 3rd of May -the day my mother will arrive. Delhi, that old capitol of the north, now again Union Capitol of India. A dusty city on the river Yamuna, where the Pandavas, Muhammad Tughluq and Shah Jahan all had their dreams of long-lost empires.

From Munnar, still deep in the south, I took a bus into Tamil Nadu, through bustling Coimbatore with its textile industry and wind mill parks, to Ooty (full name: Udhagamandalam) in the pine clad Nilgiri Hills. Then by bus again through the Bandipur Tiger Reserve to Karnataka. From Mysore with its royal palaces and grandeur I rode on to Bengalore, the ITC capitol of India. This city certainly has a more modern and hip side then most in India, but it was still too crowded and chaotic for my taste. The hot humid weather was also a set-back. By night bus I went on to Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh, where I stayed a day to take some rest and stroll through the "bangles bazaar" (they sell bangles - there were more bangles than I ever saw before) in this bustling Muslim enclave in the heart of India. I visited some of the mosques and palaces of the nizams, the former royal guys in power. The city also has a surprisingly clean park (littering comes at a fine of 200 rupees - hear all ye Indian politicians and administrators: it works!) with a big lake in the middle of the city. In the middle of the lake is a small island with one of the tallest Buddha statues in the world. A sincerely devout Islamic city seemed to me a strange place to place such an object, but let's presume the Japanese world peace organisation knows what it is doing. In Hyderabad I also had the best biriyani (fried rice) I ever had, although they make all food very spicy in Andhra.

I took a night train to Aurangabad, and stayed for a while in that city. Something about the train first. I booked a third class (sleeper) ticket, which guaranteed me a berth. The Indian Railways also sells tickets without a seat number, so not all people in the carriage were so lucky. Three children slept on top of my backpack; some berths were shared by three people and others were sleeping in the corridor, on the floor. Well, it felt a bit crowded, but I managed to sleep a little. Not enough to feel rested when the train arrived in Aurangabad at 4:30 AM. Finding a cheap, spacious room in a quiet hotel was not difficult, fortunately. I slept the better part of a day.

Aurangabad was for a short time the capitol of India during the reign of emperor Aurangzeb, who is considered either a just and pious ruler who returned the land to Shariah law, or a maniac who alienated his people with his zealotry, depending on whether you're Muslim or Hindu. The city has its attractions, like the tomb of Aurangzeb's wife (Bibi ka-Maqbara), a miniature version of the Taj Mahal. The main reason for coming here though, are the caves of Ellora and Ajanta, not too far away. These caves were dug by priests and monks of three different faiths in the 5th to 8th centuries. This is where (pre-Islamic) Indian history differs so much from European history: there was almost no religious intolerance between religions. In fact it was considered the holy duty of the king to protect all worshippers, no matter what religion they followed. Yet at Ellora, it seems they did at least their best to outdo the caves of the other faiths, because the art is truly astonishing. I visited these caves yesterday, about 40 minutes by bus from Aurangabad. There are Buddhist caves with serene and majestic Buddha and Boddhisatva statues. The Hindu caves are more joyful, with balloon-breasted goddesses and many-armed gods fighting demons, dancing or waving around with swords (and if you have eight arms, you carry a lot of swords). The third group of caves belonged to the Jain religion, which is still a bit of a mystery to me. The sculptures in these caves are more calm: there are many elegant flowers and elephants next to statues of the Jain teachers, always completely naked, since they renounce all material possession.

From Aurangabad I took a bus to Ajanta, to see another set of caves. These Ajanta caves were truly astonishing in their own way. They contain paintings from as far back as the 1st century BC. It feels strange to stand eye in eye with a drawing so old.

From Ajanta I hitch-hiked to Jalgaon, the first major city with a railway station. There I could take a train on to Bhopal and Sanchi, where I am now. Today I visited the great stupa of Sanchi, erected by the emperor Ashoka 2300 years ago. The sculptures are remarkable. Tonight I take a train to Delhi for the final part of the journey. Considering the hot weather and overcrowding of all transport, it was truly epic...