South India: Mumbai: Kahleri Caves

Kahleri Caves

Sanjay Gandhi National Park

Mumbai

One good thing about the hotel we initially picked was that it was minutes away from Sanjay Gandhi National Park, where the Kahleri caves are located. The Kahleri caves are a constellation of caves used by Buddhist monks between the 2d and 9th centuries as temples and living quarters.

We were able to rent out a taxi to get to the park, and had to hike uphill about thirty minutes to get to the caves. The terrain was rather dry and dusty, and even the greenery looked very faded (it was still the dry season in Mumbai then).

Of course we got the usual touts who demanded about Rp 800 to give us a guided tour. Our concierge at the airport had warned us that we should be able to haggle it down to Rp300, but no luck that day. Fortunately, there was an official guide at the entrance to the caves, who charged us Rp 250.

There must have been more than a hundred caves on site, but the guide only led us to a handful. He explained that most of the caves are spare and unadorned, and had likely served as living quarters. The fancier caves were used for worship.

Picture of UFC with Nazir, our taxi driver and all-around reference for all things Mumbai. Behind us is a stupa, or sacred Buddhist monument. This cave was long and rectangular, and had perfect acoustics when the guide chanted his prayer.




By the entrance of this cave, there were two Buddhas on either side. One of the Buddhas was smiling, and the other was not.

Pretty dancing girls. I love how sensual and alive they look. The quality of the sculptures at the caves was very impressive, considering the length of time that has passed.

Ahead were some generic caves, akin to little holes in the wall (literally!).

This is my favorite cave of all. I think it is the cave of the one thousand and one Buddhas. All four sides of the room are covered with scenes.


Following our tour of the caves, we decided to spring for the lion and tiger safari. After paying the fee (~ Rp30), we hopped on the Safari Queen. The bus felt very secure, with thick glass and metal bars. The safari part itself was also double-fenced. All the passengers (mostly schoolkids) expected some real tiger action... but with the heat of the day, all the tigers were sleepin' away.

Yellow tiger (look closely). We also saw a white tiger and some cubs.

The Safari Queen

Both the Kahleri Caves and the Safari were a hit! DJKung and I like this better than Elephanta, which was very touristy.

South India: Mumbai: Chetana Restaurant

Chetana Restaurant

Colaba, Mumbai

The last leg of our trip was in Mumbai. I must say that Mumbai has a lot of very nice restaurants with different regional cuisines. We went to Chetana because they advertised a high tea special, which appealed to us since we had skipped lunch.

Chetana is an all-veg place located close to the Taj Hotel. From the high tea menu, we decided on a couple of small bites with our masala chai.

Moong dal bhaji (fried dumplings) and veggie biryani. The dumplings were freshly made and vanished rather quickly.

As we were finishing, we noted that Chetana was starting to prepare for the dinner crowd. Out came the dinner menus, the tiny candles and the cloth tablecloths. From the specials, Chetana looked like it had really good thali, northern-style. I ordered the regular thali and DJKung got the Rajastani thali. Thalis are all-you-can-eat affairs; sadly, our stomachs were unable to do justice to the food.

More fried dumplings for starters. Amazingly, these fried little babies were never too greasy nor too heavy.

Yeaaa! This is Superfatty's plate. You can get fresh naan or chapati (or both), and an assortment of sides. On right, which got cut off, is a nice cold mango puree made from Alphonso mangoes, which were in season,

Fresh naan with butter. In the foreground is a ginger-flavored dumpling.

Needless to say, we were quite stuffed after our high-tea-cum-dinner affair. DJKung felt that with great food like this, anyone can go vegetarian!