Madhya Pradesh

Ok so I know it has been over 2 weeks since my last update but I did warn you that internet access was sometimes hard to come by here and even when you can get on line it can be too slow for uploading photo's (and that's not to mention the frequent power cuts!!!)


Anyway, this is an extra long entry to make up for it so go get a cup of coffee/beer/glass of wine (yes I know you all too well) and enjoy........



I mentioned Holi, The Festival of Colour on my last update - so here is a cow that was coloured and I spotted dogs/goats and even a chicken that had been coloured!!



Oh and I got coloured by some local kids.

Ghekkos are my regular roommates - but that's good as they eat the mosquito's.

The view over Orchha - one of my favourite places so far - means the "Hidden Village" and is a serious of Temples and a Palace surrounded by forrest.

The Palace at Orccha - I got lost in the serious of interconnecting corridors (no signs!).

A different view over Orccha.

The Western Temples of Khajuragho - these lay hidden in deep forrest for centuries until the British Army found them in 1800's. But look a little closer not all is as you may expect......

These Temples have a number of erotic sculpures around them from the Karma Sutra - there are different theories as to why these are on the Temples - personally I just think the architect was kinky!!

And another one - should point out that although there are a lot of erotic sculptures they are in fact only a small % of the overall - but thought you would appreciate more than an elephant!

A dance show I went along to with costumes and dancing from the different states of India.

Pigs in the middle of a street in Umaria - much hairier that our native pigs.

Old Khajuraho Village.

Me, David and Emma - who are from Slovania and were staying in the same hotel.

Kids at Tala Village who were spending the morning collecting fruit (that their dads will make into alcohol then sell) when they should have been at school.

A party to celebrate the end of Holi that I gatecrashed.

The band at the party.

Bandhavgarh National Park.

A monkey family - sorry no naughty business this time ;-)

A spotted deer.

A big butterfly.

Sunrise on Safari -- great way to start my birthday.

Me on safari.

The signs that the Tigers were on the move were good when we spotted paw prints.....

The Vultures skulking about were also a sign of Tiger activity......

Right enough not far away the remains of the Tiger kill (after the Vultures had finished with it!) so I was sure we were not far away...then I heard a big Tiger growl and .........

I got so excited then realised that we had just found Ryan the Tiger who had gone to look for his cousin on his own!!!!

This Tiger was not wanting to be found so easy so we enlisted the help of the Elephants and went a bit deeper into the forrest..

After all that searching we found this 8 year old female Tiger having a nap in the long grass - she didn't even bat an eyelid at the silly tourists on elephant back taking her photo - well she'd had a hard night hunting......

The mad cow running for the train - and no I don't mean me!!!

Ryan the Tiger enjoying the view from Pachmarhi Hill.


A street party in Pachmarhi - there was even a DJ.

Pachmari Village.

Men at work.

The view over the newer area of Pachmarhi town from my balcony.

Trekking 23km through the forrest to Chauragarh Temple.

Look closely at top middle of photo there is a thin green snake (couldn't see in sun to get better photo) - according to my trekking guide this poisonous and as it refused to move and he made us change our path to keep out it's way I tend to believe him!!

Yes I did feel as hot and sweaty as I look!

Chauragarh Temple - at the top of the mountain!!

These orange Tridents are carried to the top by pilgrims during the holy festival of Shivratri every year - but the pilgrims now take the easy road up and don't do the forrest trekk (think they may have been told something I hadn't before I started!!)

And just to prove I did make it to the top.

My trekking guide Rajkumar and his family.

Bhopal - a small city by Indian standards (only 1 million residents) but still mixture of poverty and industry next to each other. This city is famous for a Gas leak at a US factory in 1984 where 1600 died and thousands more suffered medical problems - with little compensation!!

A street parade I happened on by chance this morning - no idea what it was all about but it was loud and chaotic - expecially when I caused a traffic jam when I caused a traffic jam when everyone stopped in front of me so I could photograph/video them - been the only tourist (and camera) in the area!!

More of the parade.

I have noo idea what the significance of this guy is but liked the photo.....

Well as you can see since my last update I have survived my travels on my own and Anji is safely back at work in the UK. There has been no more Delhi Belly (touch wood!!). I have been to a number of towns and villages, as you can see from the photo's. It is certainly never dull here and I am enjoying getting out the bigger cities as the people are so friendly and you don't get anywhere near as much hassle from beggars or touts. Though I did lose my temper with one rickshaw wallah (that's the official title for those who try to get you into the tuc tucs) as he followed me from the minute I stepped off the train and wouldn't take no for an answer and kept telling me there was no bus/tempo even though my guide book said different and what hotel I should be going to. Well after he had interrupted the fourth person I tried to ask for information he got told where to go - I did manage to refrain from swearing (well out loud anyway!) and found a tempo. Tempo's are just a slightly bigger rickshaw where they cram in about 14 people and bags!! But at 20Rupees (26p) for 10 mile trip - worth it for the experience (but not my regular mode of transport).

Had a few other firsts over the last few weeks, my first ride on a motorcycle - was by default I have to say as the hotel said they would drop me off at the dance show I was going to and I just assumed it would be by car!! But it was in a town with very little traffic and I quite enjoyed it. I also had my first ever experience at meditation - the hotel where I was staying in Khajuraho was a spititual guru and took me to an old ruined temple at sunset for meditation. Was quite relaxing though I didn't manage the whole blanking your mind thing (hard to believe I know!!) but did enjoying just chilling out under the stars...... So have been doing as I intended and trying out new things and keeping an open mind but not yet converted.

I hired a bike in Khajuraho as well for the day as it was the best way to see the Temples that are scattered around the town. After my first stop I got back to my bike and found I couldn't get the lock open - a very helpful boy came to my assistance and spent 10 mins oiling the lock and trying different keys. I was just about to jump in a rickshaw and get the hotel to collect their own bike when a guy came over and asked what we were doing to his bike!! Ok they all look exactly a like and mines had been the third bike when I left - how was I to know someone else with same bike would come up and park next to me!! Felt like a goose so tipped the boy 50 rupees (60p) as smallest note I had - not bad as it only cost me 30 rupees to hire the bike for the day!!

I decided that I was going to trekk in Pachamari, which is a hill station with lots of army and police training barracks and when I arranged for a local guide to take me to Chauragarh mountain Temple I thought he would follow the route the guide book says you can do yourself - I had decided not to cycle the first 8km as I am hopeless uphill on a bike so thought we would just walk the same route. No we went through the forrest and up the side of the mountain!!! Was excellent and I am glad I did it but did I struggle for the last couple of km's uphill only to get to what I thought was the top to find 350 stairs (ahhhh!!!). But I refrained from jumping a jeep back down and walked even though we did come down on the main road most of the way - which was much easier. Then got back to my hotel and remembered I was on the 5th floor - so once I hit my hotel room I couldn't even face going back out for my dinner and slept for 12 hours!!! Will wait till I head north to cooler climates before trying another trekk like that I think....

Some things that I have found on my travels around India so far:

1. Spitting - everywhere you go guys just do big dirty grogging spits - one of my most hated habits at the best of times :-(
   
2. Bucket Baths - most hotels you stay in have a bucket in the bathroom - even if they have showers. As many have low water pressure or no warm water you use the bucket to fill up and through it over your head - much more effective than it sounds (certainly wakes you up!!) and also comes in handy for washing your clothes.


3. Singing - not only do you hear the constant sounds of chanting from mosques & temples but everyone walks along and sings away to themselves. Though I did get some funny looks when I tried singing along to my MP3 they didn't seem to appreciate my version of Bryan Adams - Summer of 69 ........then again I am tone deaf (and Alice has never forgiven me for standing next to her in the school choir :-)
4. Bus Journeys - there is a driver, ticket conductor and at least one other guy who is mechanic/goffer. People hop on and off moving buses and as many people as possible are squeezed in for the ride.
5. Prayer - people openly pray and bless themselves and there is generally a very good tolerance between the different religous groups. For example on the bus journey the other day the driver stopped so the conductor could jump off and make an offering of coconut at a temple at the side of the road to bring good luck.
6. Genorosity - everywhere you go people will offer you food and water, even though they have hardly enough for themselves. It is difficult to politely refuse but there are warnings of food being drugged (sure that is not the case 99.9% of the time) but mainly it is for hygiene reasons (had enough of the runs!!).


7. Questions - it is perfectly acceptable for a stranger to ask you about your relationship, family, education, religion, salary even your phone number and email. I was asked by a 10 year old today if I was christian (said yes as I couldn't get into the whole undecided thing with someone who is 10!!). Generally I tell people I am married as most find it quite strange that someone my age would be single (not that some at home wouldn't agree) and it gets you less hassle from guys (my husband is always on business in the next town I am going to!).
8. Photo's - people love getting their photo's taken and will just stop you in the street and ask you to take their photo's.

So after your nagging I've made effort to include some photo's with me in them - just to prove to Audrey I'm not holed up in a bed sit in Saltcoats downloading photo's on line!! Also, thanks to various people for warnings about trouble in Tibet - it wasn't looking good for visit anyway as difficult to get a Visa so is now off the agenda. Going to start working my way down to South of India from here and hopefully be able to get there before the temperatures get too hot for me.

Better go and get organised as have to catch a train in a couple of hours (8 hour journey - if there are no delays - yesterdays 45 min journey turned into 3 hours!).

Hope you enjoyed the update (I did warn you it was going to be a long one)- will hopefully not be so long till the next one.

Jack xx

PS Sometimes difficult for me to tell who has left comments on my posts as if you haven't signed up it comes up annonymous so you need to add your name to the bottom (also know a few people with same name - so if I mix you up with someone please don't get offended ;-)