The famous Ajanta Caves in Maharashtra are beautiful, but the journey to the site is "very painful", tourists from Japan have complained.
They said they will definitely inform people of their country about this popular UNESCO world heritage site comprising around 30 rock-cut Buddhist cave monuments, located in Aurangabad district, but also warn them about the pothole- ridden road connecting the city to the tourist destination.
A group of six Japanese nationals on Friday visited the caves, located around 100 km from the district headquarters, where footfalls have been going down due to poor condition of the key connecting road.
"Once we go back, we will surely recommend our countrymen to visit the Ajanta Caves, but we will also let them know about the bad condition of the Aurangabad-Ajanta road. We will ask them to check the road conditions before planning the trip," tourist Sakai Hiroshi told PTI.
"It took us just about two hours to see the caves, which are beautiful, but we spent eight-long hours on our journey which gave us body pain," he informed through translator Dayanand Upadhyay.
Hiroshi said he would like to visit the caves again, but only after the main road is smoothly operational.
"Our government is also spending money here and tourism is a key area for that. The Indian government should check this and resolve the bad road issue fast," he added.
Oda Yaoyi, a Tokyo-based woman who was part of the tourist group, said, "During the entire journey on the Aurangabad-Ajanta road, we couldn't find a toilet facility till we reach near the caves."
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