Another early start because we had such a long day ahead of us. 7am we were off to see the Khajuraho Temples. They are a group of Hindu and Jain temples famous for their erotic sculptures. Most temples were built between 950 – 1050 AD. There were upwards of 85 temples built by the 12th century and had been in active use until then (when Central India came under Muslim rule). Now only about 20 remain. All temples except one face the sunrise. The details are amazingly well done in sandstone. The artistry is really excellent. You could see fabric patterns, water droplets from bathes and jewelry. When the people were depicted hanging upside down their jewelry hung down with gravity.
Beastiality is depicted as it could happen but there is no god near showing that it is not to be done.
Lots of positions are shown. Basically this is the original Kama Sutra.
After the temples it was time to head out onto the road. Road is a relative term. I suppose we never left the path but the road today was, well, difficult. If you have ever 4×4’d in BC you’ve driven on Forest Service Roads. Think dusty roads that are potholed and washboarded and in some cases in India under contract (meaning construction) for the last 10 years. Now do this for 10 hours. Occasionally the road would be like a normal 2 lane road at home, but mostly it was crap. Then to keep it interesting every 5km add a village to slow you down some more.
We saw our first cow/car motorcycle accident today. The cow lost. The men on the motorcycle appeared ok.
On that note, things we’ve seen on roads in India:
- People
- Cars
- Bicycles
- Motorcycles
- Rickshaws
- Trucks
- Sugar Cane Food cars
- Food Carts of many different kinds
- Ox Carts
- Cows
- Buffalo
- Dogs
- Donkeys
- Goats
- Horses
- Sheep
- Pigs
- Camels
- Elephants
- And one cat
Lunch was at an Indian tourist hotel. The total bill was 405 rupees. We’ve paid more than 4 times that for a single entree. And it was delicious.
Finally 10 hours door to door we arrived in Varanasi. Tired, road weary and done for the day.
Tomorrow we are off to tour Varansi.
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