Back in Mumbai

Sunday we went to Elephanta Island. It's an hour boat ride from Mumbai. A complex of Hindu caves and temples are located here that were built in the 5th century AD. In the 16th century the Portuguese used the site as a firing range. Many statues were damaged by bullets. Above are examples of some wildlife I found on the island. A dog I named Scrappy Doodle and a little monkey. It's quite hot in Mumbai right now. Not ready for fall in the states.

Goodbye Indore

We said our goodbyes and then realized the car tire was flat. This was a 8:00 am for our 8:45 am flight. We miraculously made it on the plane. Anything is possible in India.

Mandu

Mandu

Monkey drinking :)

Mandu

Local fruit that our driver bought for us. It was the consistency of astronaut ice cream.

Day Trip to Mandu

We took a day trip to Mandu. It was about a 3 hour drive from Indore. It's in the middle of nowhere and just filled with so many amazing ruins. We started out with a tour guide that we picked up in the parking lot :) He was explaining to us about a ruler that had music competitions in his home. He wanted to demonstrate the acoustics in the building so he had us sit on one end while he sang in the other. He sang a really high pitched part and then a very low pitched then started snapping a clapping. This went on for a good few minutes and we weren't quite sure if he was going to stop. Katie and Noopur ducked off to the sides and started cracking up. I was stuck sitting across from him pretending to be entertained. The lack of detail in my description is b/c i couldn't understand a word he said. We gave him the boot after this stop. He also had 4 toes on one foot. That's not why we told him to leave, just an interesting fact.

Indore Palace

Out hosts took us to the Lal Bagh Palace. It is a combination of very different architectural styles influenced by French, English & Mughal styles. Above are statues of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The entrance gates to the palace are replicas of the gates at Buckingham Palace.