Our day today included a long journey from Bandhavargh to Khajaraho. The drive was about 6 and half hours, and it took up a big chunk of the day. After eating breakfast at the hotel, we left around 8am. We didn't get very far before having to pull over at a small tire repair shop and fix one of our tires. The roads are incredibly bad in parts of India, and it is easy to see how the tires can easily be worn down. We spent about an hour at the tire repair shop, so we entertained ourselves by playing soccer with some of the Danish members of our tour group. Our tour guide also tried to keep us busy by showing off some basic magic tricks. He had some people fooled, but James had figured out the trick.
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| Erin and James are ready for another long journey in the tour van. |
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| Erin worked on organizing some of the trip photos while we were waiting to get the tire fixed. |
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| James plays soccer with some of the tour members from Denmark. |
Around 10am, we were back on the road. Our tour guide said that we would stop for a lunch break around 12pm. However, when 12pm came around he told us it would be about 1 more hour before we stopped. Then, when 1pm came around, he said it would be another hour. Erin, along with several other people in the van, had to use the bathroom. So, we pulled over to the side of the road and everyone found a private spot in the bushes. (Surprisingly, this was not the first or second time we had done this so far on this tour).
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| Our bathroom break in the countryside. |
We finally arrived in Khajaraho around 3:00pm, where we had lunch at a restaurant near some of the temples. The food took quite a long time to prepare, but was tasty. After our late lunch, we headed across the street to see the Khajaraho group of monuments (otherwise known as the western temples - or the Kama Sutra temples). The temples are the largest group of medieval Hindi and Jain temples and they are famous for their erotic sculptures. The temples were created in 850-950 BC and they were made of sandstone. Unlike many of the temples we saw in Egypt, these temples are for meditation and prayer and not for housing mummies.
We wandered through the temples with a guide who explained more about some of the designs within the outside of the temples. He explained that many of them were created with the hopes of uniting the Hindi religion, the Muslim religion, and the Buddhist religion – each of which is represented by different shapes on the roof.
Our guide also spent a significant amount of time explaining more about the Kama Sutra, or the love technique. There were many different figurines along the outside of the temples dedicated to demonstrating these techniques.
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| One of the first temples on our stop, the Varaha temple. Inside the temple was a very large boar monument. |
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| A view of the incredibly well-maintained grounds. |
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| Some of the more "PG" carvings on the Lakshman temple. |
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| More of the detailed carvings outside the Lakshman temple. |
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| Tabitha also visited the temples! |
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| Erin and James standing in front of the Lakshman tample in Khajuraho. |
After exploring many of the ancient temples, we then headed into one of the working temples – where people still go to meditate and pray. We learned that in this particular temple, you needed to walk through in a clockwise fashion, so you entered in one door and exited through the other. As we walked through the temple, we quickly realized that the only way out would require us to walk through the area where people were actively worshiping. We walked through the area, bowed to the lingua and the yoni (dedicated to the Shiva God), and received a blessing from the priest.
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| Erin and James, newly blessed, standing in front of the working temple in Khajuraho. |
By then, it was dark and we jumped back into the van, picked up some snacks and takeout food, and went to the hotel to check in. We freshened up a bit, and left for the 7pm cultural dance program our group was attending. The dance program was about an hour long and was a great way to see some of the different dances performed throughout India. The performers wore very colorful costumes, which made it more fun to watch.
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| One of the female dancers during the Puja, or the beginning prayer. |
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| Male and female dancers demonstrate some of the dancing techniques from various parts of India. |
After the dance program was over, we were pretty worn out. Our van made a stop for some snacks and takeout food, and then we went back to the hotel for a quiet night. We attempted to get a connection to the internet in the room, but were unsuccessful. Because we hadn't had an internet connection since we arrived in India, we were both anxious to get online. Erin checked with the front desk and the only option was to use the hotel computer in the reception area which cost about 100 Rupies per hour. James suggested Erin use the computer while he rested for a bit. When Erin returned, James was fast asleep, so she headed to bed too.
