Day 10: Orchar and Alipura
We had a fantastic day today. It was filled with cool palaces, temples and cultural experiences. I feel like I have been snap happy with all the photos, but I have actually been holding back as the bus and tuk tuk rides have been incredible but you cannot capture it through the bus window or at the chaotic rate that a tuk tuk moves. In the bus today we were stopped for a train crossing and the road was in chaos. While sitting there, there was a guy plucking a chicken and people going to the bathroom anywhere. The smell of urine emanates and I am sure I have seen over a hundred people peeing now.
We did a cooking class today. It was $5 and that included the meal of what we made that is shown above. There must have been about 10 dishes. I took pictures of the recipes so those that want to make them can. The food turned out really well and it was an excellent experience in a villager’s home. It was all vegetarian dishes.
We went to a paper factory and watched paper being made out of scarps of material. In the factory there was a large pile of certificates just laying around that said Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery on them, anyone can be a doctor here, just need to put your name on that piece of paper. No problem.
There are beautiful ruins, castles and temples in Orcha that we visited. One is the Raj Mahal. The castle was beautiful and there are many neat temples along the river. The structures reminded me of Ankor Wat in Cambodia.
We are now in Alipura staying in a castle. The rooms are very cool and quite large. Each one is different and ours has many curtains throughout it like a palace. They have a lot of character and we are the only ones here. There is marble everywhere. In Michelle and Zeena’s room their beds have mirrors on the head and foot boards.
It is Michelle’s 23 birthday so we had a party. Nothing like dancing in the courtyard of a castle to cassette tapes while having some Indian rum. The hotel staff went 30 km’s away to get her a “milk cake” (made out of condensed milk), as they do not do cakes over here or birthday cakes. It had the edible tin foil on it. They also put up balloons.
The monkeys were out in full force today Grace. Got you some pictures.
Day 11: Alipura to Khajuraho
We took a bus for 2 hours to Khajuraho Temples or the Western Group Temples. On the way we drove by an accident between a local bus, which are usually packed to the gills and a transport truck. Today we learned that 17 people died in the accident and 19 people were injured and in the hospital.
We visited the Khajuraho Temples which were very neat and from 950 AD. They were discovered in the 20th century covered with jungle growth. They reminded me of the temples at Ankor Wat, but these ones are covered in erotic carvings and Karma Sutra poses. They are very graphic and some of the photos are x-rated.
This morning a group of us was up and doing yoga with a guru at 6am for a two hour class on the roof top patio of the palace. What a backdrop. Barry was camera happy and documented the class in photos on all the participants cameras.
We walked through the village today and continually saw people at the local wells collecting water. We saw a woman sitting in her door way surrounded by children while she worked making cigarettes. If she makes 1000 she gets $2.
We visited the hospital where it costs 2 rupees to see the doctor and 50 rupees are needed to make $1. At the hospital it had about half a dozen rooms. We saw the delivery room and at the wash station it appreared they were reusing the rubber gloves.
We visited the village police station where they had two cells, one for woman, with a curtain and one without a curtain for men.
We also went to a school and provided the school with school supplies. They do not have desks and sit on a runner of carpet with their note book. They practiced their ABC’s for us with a leader at the front instructing the group and they did their numbers for us.
We just happened to walk up the street and see a goat giving birth.
The woman make patties of manure and hay with their bare hands and use this patties as fuel for cooking.
We are off to a 12 hour night train tonight to Varanasi and will be spending a couple of nights there. Our guide has arranged an Amazing Race activity that is to take 3 -4 hours for us to do in teams. Should be fun.
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