Our scheduled tour began at 9:00 and
we started with a drive into the surrounding hills to visit a fort.
The city of Pune is 5 million people and 9:00 is still rush hour so
it was an interesting drive. Once we hit the hills the traffic
dropped as the scenery improved. At the top we were faced with an
uphill walk of 1 kilometer until we reached the 3rd gate
and entered the Fort. Along the way we were entertained by goats and
goat drivers. They are restoring the fort and the rocks, sand and
cement go the last 2 km via goats. They are sure footed on the
stairs and can carry about 40 kilos each. Each donkey herder manages 5 donkeys
on a trip. On the way up the donkeys seem to respond well to the
herders commands, but on the way down they are a bit more frisky. We
saw some donkeys hobbled on the way down. The Fort was build in
the 16th century and sat on a mountain top. It had changed hands
several times but the last victors built the Martha empire in this
area and ruled until the British came along.
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| Carrying Rocks for re-construction |
In the afternoon we visited the Aga
Kahn palace. I finally found out what is the Aga Kahn. He is the
leader of an Islamic sect of liberals and traders. They come from
both Shias and Sunnis and have existed only a short time. The
current Aga Kahn is the fourth leader. The sect is respected in
India for its good works and generous donations. The palace was
offered to India for use during independence and now is owned
outright by India and houses a Gandi Museum.
1 comment:
Just been catching up on your trip. Fascinating sites. I can't imagine how they ever cut those caves etc out of solid rock. Hope they paid the workers well.
Felt sorry for the donkeys carrying those rocks. Hope no animals were injured in the making of this blog.
Have fun and keep safe, we have to get back to revamping the kitchen.
Jean & Tim.
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