weekend 2

So the second weekend the group of Australians were there. They did the hike to Logahad fort on Saturday, and Audrey and I hiked with Nikki the much shorter trip to the Bhaja caves. They were very similar to the ones we saw in Karla, but it was nice because it was a bit quieter (not as much of a hotspot as the Karla caves since they have the temple there). However, there were some rowdy teenage boys that Nikki kept refering to as the 'dirty boys' and 'idiot boys'. I guess there isn't too much of a culture difference in that at the age of 11... So we poked around a little and took some pictures. The caves are old Buddhist caves that were strategically placed along trade routes. They carved intricate portraits of people and animals right into the stone. So while we were there, 3 goats came running up to the caves as well. A momma goat, and her 2 teenage boys. They were curious about us and followed us around a bit, scaring nikki. After we went to the end and came back, the boys were taunting the goats and throwing rocks at them, which none of us approved of. The goats were semi-charging the boys. Then they started ignoring the boys, and just 'play battled' with each other. It reminded me very much of 2 dogs roughhousing, although it looked like it must have hurt their heads. After getting back to the place, we played a new 'trick game' with a few of the australians. It's kind of cool because you can play with more than 4 people, but you dont deal out all the cards so it adds a bit of luck and removes some skill, but fun nonetheless. Karuna asked us if we'd like to have chicken for dinner (the first chicken in 2 weeks! except for the chicken curry i had, but the chicken was really chewy so I didn't eat it). A few of us went with him to get the chickens from town. There is a chicken guy who has a bunch of chickens in cages. You tell him you want some chicken, and he grabs one by the wing, and folds the two wings over their back so they cant move and then puts them on a weighing machine. Once you've weighed out enough chickens, the other guy grabs the chicken by the wings, pulls up the head to meet the wings, and cuts their throat. Then he puts them in a box thing while they bleed out and the rest of their body twitches for a while. Yuck. but Yum... On Sunday, we decided to go to this place called Matheran. We thought it was pretty close, but the drive there took almost 3 hours (partially because it was pouring rain). The monsoon season has started in the Mumbai area, and it rains everyday. That particular day, it ONLY rained. There were a few lighter patches, but mostly rain. We were kind of expecting it to stop like it did the other days, but no such luck. So in Matheran, automobiles are not allowed. People get around by walking, horses, or by man-powered (walking, pushing) rick-shaws. It seems to be a weekend trip for a lot of Indian families too. It was pouring rain so hard that only 5 minutes after we got out of the car, our shoes and jeans were completely soaked through. Good thing I had brought some plastic zip-lock bags for the camera, phone, and money.. So we bargained our way into a horse-back ride and went to a few lookout points (which were quite beautiful, even in the fog and rain). When it rains like this, you can see all kinds of little water falls sprouting up on the hillsides, so it was really nice. Then a cold and soggy ride back to Malavli.