checking out some of the temples in Khajuraho
Kvz. It was time to see some old temples so we headed out of Gwalior on the train to Orchha, and found ourselves in fairy tale land. Orchha is in the countryside in the middle of nowhere…not near any cities, and is flat and green for miles. The wide and very green Betwa river runs through the middle of it which is strewn with huge boulders. Dotted amongst this setting is hundreds of little, beautiful well-preserved Hindu temples from the 1500′s, and when you climb up to the top of one of them you can see this landscape for miles. The town is so small that the annoying hotel/tour touts don’t really bother with it all…the “town” is basically 2 dirt roads that criss-cross each other. We decided to go for it and stay at the main palace which was government-run. Called the “Jehangir Mahal” and built in the 1600′s it had been a favorite place for the Mughal Prince of the time to stay when he visited, and once again we felt like royalty for a day in this gem of Islamic medieval architecture. We spent 2 days just exploring the ruins at our leisure. I had a quickie henna tattoo applied to my right hand just for fun, and bought a jingly ankle bracelet and toe ring like all the married women wear. I bought lots of silver jewelry. The vendors all say that business has been so slow ever since the Mumbai bombings. They are always very happy to see me coming. I had given all my jewelry I’d bought so far to my mom to take home last month when she visited, so I’m at ground zero again. Yippee!!
Becca sleeping like a princess in Orchha
Kristin working on price and terms
Drew draws another crowd // Kristin getting some Henna work done
The Betwa River running through Orchha
Orchha Palace
sites around Orchha (above and below)
burning incense and chanting for Vishnu at a local temple as folks in Orchha are mainly Vaishnavites http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaishnavite
Alas, we couldn’t afford to stay in Orchha much longer (palaces and silver) so off we headed to Khajuraho to see the famously x-rated temple architecture there. Remember when I said I’d never take a 3rd class train in India on purpose? Well…in these rural areas there is no other choice. We waited nervously on the tracks for the train to come and planned our attack..we’d beat everyone else on and Tim would get in from one end of a car and I’d get in from the other. The first person to find 4 seats together would save them and yell to the others. When the train approached it we saw that it was frightfully full. As it came to a stop we kept walking along, wishfully thinking that eventually we’d get to a car less crowded. By this time everyone had gotten on the train except us. And then it started moving! It was leaving! No way were me missing this train. We ran to the nearest opening and jumped one by one onto the slow-moving train with me taking up the rear. Right into the baggage car. Five men were shaking their heads at us, but they helped us on anyway, and we promised to move cars at the next stop. At least Drew had fulfilled a life-long dream; to jump aboard a moving train…and into the baggage compartment no less! (We’ve already jumped OFF a moving train once when we couldn’t seem to get out in the allotted time, so I guess this was the only logical next James Bond-like experience for him to long for.) When we finally moved to a proper passenger car we were amazed how everyone politely made room for us, and Becca land I even lucked out and got window seats in the aisle to ourselves. Tim and Drew were welcomed into a compartment full of a huge family where a few of them spoke enough English to make it interesting. The guy next to me complimented me on bringing my kids along. He said “not too many Americans will bring their children to India.” What a shame. He had first asked if we were sisters, so he is officially my favorite person in India so far.
This train route was unique in that the tracks had only been finished for one month (before you had to go by bus) so going through the most rural, serene countryside you would see people in the fields just STARING at the train like it was something from outer space. All of a sudden we heard a loud thump and rattle and the train stopped. I was sure we’d hit a cow who was probably not used to the train whizzing by and hadn’t yet learned to avoid it. Everyone piled off and looked under the train but thankfully it was just a air hose that had pulled apart and was quickly (thankfully) fixed.
leaving Orchha – trains are not exactly carbon neutral but are the safest form of transportation in India
Tim spends most of his time on trains hanging out the door snapping photos
our friendly seat partners enroute // repairing the train outside Khajuraho
Having had just enough drama for one train ride, thank you very much, we gratefully arrived in Khajuraho and spent a wonderful 3 days exploring the town and it’s surroundings. The first day we saw the obligatory and deservedly so 10th century temples that were built by the Chandela dynasty. The town is so isolated that the Muslim invaders never found it, so it escaped the desecration besieged upon so many other sites. The jungle also claimed it for many years until it was “re-discovered” by the British who found it marvelously well-preserved. But what it is most famous for is it’s Kamasutra-like sculptures that are carved all over the outside of the temples. Some of the poses make you downright blush. I was a little nervous about the kids, but they noticed NOT ONE of the erotic images. Thing is…you have to stand and stare for awhile, tilt your head to one side and ponder the tangle of arms and legs for a minute before “Presto!”…you finally get the picture. Kids don’t have the patience for that. These temples are probably the most intricately carved temples we’ve seen on the trip and are incredible works of art. We saw many beautiful, young Indian couples wandering around, and weren’t surprised to learn that this romantic site is a popular honeymoon spot. No doubt.
looking up at a temple ceiling at Khajuraho of incredible craftsmanship
Being the “festival magnets” that we accidently are, we found ourselves in Khajuraho the very first day of a 2 week music-and-performing arts festival. The first night was to be VIP night which meant the governor of the province we are in (Madya Pradesh) would be attending. We had a choice between .60 cent seats and $2 seats..guess which ones we chose? I felt a little imperialistic when I found myself seated amongst several hundred Westerners, and looked over my shoulder to see the packed Indians in the section in the back. But what tourist in their right mind wouldn’t buy the better tickets? To one of the most famous festivals in India? These were world class performances…classical Indian dancing and music. The outfits were of course splendid, and spot on. (Have I been watching too much BBC?) Evidently this type of music practically takes a math genius to master with much intricate timing involved. During the performance I noticed some huge birds flying about overhead. I thought Becca, my animal lover, would appreciate the sight so I whispered over to her and pointed. She replied “Oh…those aren’t birds mom. They’re giant Flying Fox bats.” Becca is amazing with her animal knowledge…she leafed through a “Indian Animals” book at a store for 10 minutes one day, and then proceeded to later inform us that the animal we saw in the tree in Thailand was a Giant Flying Squirrel, and bird we thought was a parrot was actually a “Blossom-headed Parakeet.” We went back and bought her the book, and now she’s our resident animal expert even more than ever.
The next day we decided to do an outing to see two things…see the Raneh Waterfalls, and then go see alligators (“no, they’re called Gharials mom”) at the Gharial sanctuary. Although no one bothered to tell us that there was no water at the falls this time of year, and that no one had spotted a Gharial at the sanctuary for at least 5 years. So the von Zweck family got “had” again…but the guides made no apologies and directed us to focus instead on the amazing canyon views (where the water completely fills up in rainy season) instead…and they were right of course. The canyon was incredibly deep and rock formations spread clear to the horizon. We also saw some huge antelope-like animals (just had to ask Becca, and they’re actually called Nilgais) spotted deer, a peacock, and Langur monkeys. And we consoled ourselves further by remembering that after one sees the amazing Iguazu Falls in Argentina…nothing else can quite compare anyway. The canyon probably ended up awing us way more than the falls ever would have. We’re headed to a National Park next…in our never-ending search of that ever-elusive tiger.
on the way to dried up Raneh Falls
