Bundelkhand Riverside Orchha

... our budget. We thanked our driver and were so happy we gave him a very generous tip of almost £1.00!
The hotel is a very amenable place to stay and Orchha is a small town so is more laid-back than the other places we have visited although it still has its fair share of beggars and persistent shop owners. The majority of the beggars are Sadhus, Indian holy men who have renounced possessions with the exception of our cash! Actually they seem ...

... small and sleepy village was that it was small ( 3km's??? ) and sleepy. Saying that I was woken at 4am every morning by the Hare Rama chanters who roam the street calling Lord Rama home to his temple. I would have also loved to spend the night watching the Sadhu's singing to their Lord Rama. D. had a 10pm curfew, like a lot of Indian guest houses, and with the stray dogs and an hour of meditation to do I didn't ...

... out. (At the mo we are in a very small internet cafe with one computer and slow internet so can't upload any piccies at the mo). There was even a school trip at the Taj and I spoke at great length with our tour guide Pubinder about the school system in India.

After our day at the Taj it was back to the hotal and ready for another early start to get a 3 hour train ride to a small village called Orchha. This really a little ...

The early morning bus to Orchha was a prime specimen of comfort for a surprising change with leg room and few stops on the way. The people of Northern Madhya Pradesh state proved to be a friendly bunch even giving us free bananas and cucumbers at one rest stop. During a 20minute stop Nads and i did a clown show for the chai wallahs and ladoo sellers at the bus station who whooped in laughter and clapped as we well, made clowns of ourselves. it was a hilariously funny bus ...

... stately home. Curiously, it was completely deserted while the surrounded dusty pavement was bustling with people. How odd I thought. Walking around I noticed the gate was locked, which would explain why the garden was empty. But what was the point of this little oasis in the desert if nobody was allowed to use it? I never found out, but a gardener who saw me looking soon rushed over and unlocked the gate, inviting me inside. 'Hello (or 'HALOOO' in ...

... were famous. And that is all that counted. Turns out, it was a good move to go up there. After about an hour of hanging out and watching the scene, we had two sitings of actors. The first was a blur of a man who walked quickly out the temple and into this car followed by a mass of screaming girls. This was one of the Princes of Bollywood and a major heartthrob. Brad Pitt kind of status from what we are told. The second was Ravi Kishan, a Bhoj Puri superstar actor who ...

... closest possible destination depending on where we are. Leaving Orcha, we really beat up the rickshaw driver on price, but promised to get more people to get in to go to Jhansi. As we were pulling away frmo town, I was leaning out the rickshaw, yelling "Jhansi, Jhansi, you wanna go to Jhansi? Where are you going?Jhansi?" I saw a kid helping guide a truck into a construction area "Hey, where are you going, you awnna go to Jahsi?" two locals in a barber shop, one getting shaved :" Hey ...

... the village. There was some sort of festivity with the kids waving red flags. We then went to the home of one of Indi's relatives. They were extremely hospitable and offered us tea and cookies but most of us were just too hot to be in the mood to enjoy them. We ended our stay in Orchha with a cooking demonstration from one of Bea's friends who was the nicest lady. (I say lady but she is probably much younger than I am with a little girl) She told us ...

... Milan's for breakfast of banana pancake, toast/jam and coffee and then headed to the palaces over the bridge. The ticket was just Rs30 plus Rs20 for a camera to visit the palaces and all the other sights in the village. Not bad for 60p for the whole day. I entered into the complex where women were carrying stuff in bowls on their heads whilst wearing sari's. The first palace is called the Raja Mahal where a guy unlocked a door that contained some beautiful ceiling ...

Nov 5 - Nov 12, 1999

I have to get done the digital copies of the pictures. So will upload them....whenever I manage that. I'll also try and write on my experience there but in the meantime this is the list of birds and animals that I was fortunate enough to see there.

BANDHAVGADH
grey hornbills
green pigeons
small minivets
scarlet minivet
white bellied drongo
stone chat
brainfever ...