Jass Trident Hotel Khajuraho

... suspicion a Leopard may be nearby. We followed him along the rocky bank of the river past where we were actually allowed to go and all of a sudden R.K. excitedly pointed to the river bank a few hundred meters up on a bend. It took us a while to see anything but we soon spotted a leopard. It was only for a minute or so but was enough to top off the safari. Awesome!
We headed back to the jeep and showed the other people (that had left the river bank about 2 ...

... and we're not hippies. Hahahaha! We even had pirate t-shirts printed for all the waiters and chefs at Mona Lisa Cafe. Our very own pirate crew!! Aarrggh me mateys!

The day that Nadia was ill, i had gone on an adventure in the backstreets and had not returned all day. Vishal, our favourite waiter heard Nadine crying in the room and went in to comfort her and keep her company until i returned. After this he was calling her mum. I felt terrible when i came back to find Nadia ...

Later that evening, I was to experience my first overnight sleeper train to Satna. The train was 1hr late leaving, so I was really tired when I entered the train at 1.30am. I had the option of traveling AC but decided to travel 2nd class, since it was considerably cheaper. The carriages look a little like cattle trucks, as all have windows without glass, but with several bars across to prevent losses. There are 6 bunks to each sub-compartment, with all being open to ...

... d * good time *nd perh*ps I'd like to p*y him * tip. The requests bec*me very frequent *s we ne*red the l*nding *re*. This w*s definitely * once-in-*-lifetime experience of hum*n bodily endur*nce. I wouldn't im*gine the consumption of poison would be *ny e*sier to endure th*n immersion in this septic c*uldron of de*dly broth.

My trip continued on the motorbike, visiting the loc*l Durg* temple, built in the 700s *nd red-ochre st*ined. Security is now, underst*nd*bly ...

... the main group of temples, with the local guide, to have him show us more. What he didn't tell us was that he was taking us to his cousin Mohamed's shop to sell us some art. We were a little annoyed and left without buying anything-which seemed to annoy him.....so I guess we were even. We then returned to the hotel to get relief from the heat and wait for the evening light and sound show. After a nice rest we returned to the temples at ...

Khajuraho is the home to a vast amount of temples with intricate and very explicit Kama Sutra carvings, the town was a huge hassle to get to, and even harder to leave as we were there mid elections and all the local buses were being used to ship ...

We caught the train from Varanasi station the next day. The train line had only been completed a few months earlier, and the station was fifteen minutes out of town. We caught an auto-rickshaw, and it rattled along the highway past the stands of eucalypt trees. The dry heat and the smell of the trees reminded me unmistakeably of the Australian bush.

The train ride lasted many hours, and we got into our destination late that night. As a ...

After seeing the Taj, our little travelling group decided to visit a couple of sights in Madhya Pradesh, on our way towards Varanasi and ultimately Kolkata. First stop was Orchha, a tiny little town south of Agra, but which has a huge palace and temples that used to belong to some maharajas who were forced to abandon the place in the 18th century after peasant revolts, and has been left empty ever since. We arrived in time to see the very ...

... stuff all over the streets and sides of buildings. It comes wrapped up in a leaf and a dab of cream is put on an open leaf that tthe wrapped tobacco is placed on - you dab the cream and then put the wrapped leaf in your mouth and commence spitting. The post office experience was unlike anything I have ever experienced. I had a plastic bag of some souvenirs that I wanted to send home and lighten up my pack. There is a man sitting out front of the post office that packages ...

... la banque est fermé à cause de la fête) retourner (encore) à la station de bus pour voir si on peut se faire rembourser le billet de Mathilde et changer le notre pour aujourd'hui au lieu d'hier..ect.. Mathilde est partie à 11H00 et nous à 14H00 avec Robert et Marie le couple que l'on avait déjà vu dans le train allant à Jansi. Nous sommes arrivés à 17H30, eux avait le train de 19H30 qui est arrivé à l'heure prévu : 4H40. Nous devions normalement arriver en même temps avec notre ...