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Published: November 27th 2015
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Khajuraho 25 November 2015 We drove 170 kms to Khajuraho. The road was better but narrow. As always there were a lot of villages dotted along the way and stayed at the Ramada.
Khajuraho has a population of 24,000. It was a quieter town and we learned that tourists are still 60%!l(MISSING)ess than pre-GFC.
The most famous feature of the town is the erotic and romantic Kama Sutra Temples which is protected as world heritage monument. Its walls are covered in erotic carvings. The carvings show the life that was then, and of gods, goddesses, warriors, musicians, and real and mythological animals. Two elements that appear repeatedly - women and sex.
Legend has it that Khajuraho was founded by the son of the moon god Chandra, who descended and saw a beautiful maiden as she bathed in a stream. Most of the 85 original temples, of which only 25 remain, where built from AD 950 to 1050 during the Chandela dynasty, and they remained active long after the Chandelas moved their capital to Mahoba.
Due to its isolation, the temples were into ruins and covered
with jungle until a local person took an English officer to see it in 1838. The most striking, best-preserved temples are those within the fenced area.
We only had an hour to wander around before Government Officers, with whistle in hand, told us all to go (5.00pm).
We then found a restaurant outside the fence to have or obligatory cold, Kingfisher beer.
At 6.30pm we attended the Sound and Light Show which was in English. We saw technicolour floodlights sweep across the temples of the Western Group as Indian classical music soundtracks a potted history of Khajuraho, narrated by the 'master sculptor'. Other than being a little cold, we thoroughly enjoyed the entertainment and story.
After the show we went out to dinner, taking Ravi with us as this was the last night he was going to be with us as we flew to Varanasi the next day. It was great to be able to have some time with him because when he is driving, he is concentrating on the road all the time, dodging cattle, cars and busses coming towards him, sometimes on the wrong side
of the road, contending with narrow roads, impatient bus drivers and the list goes on. Ravi has been excellent. He is a gentleman and very willing to show us as much as possible. We would recommend him to anyone.
The next morning we visited the Eastern side Temples, another phenomenal examples of the work of craftsmanship and design. As we had 3 hours to wait for our flight, we found, what has become our favourite restaurant, had a coffee and delicious apple tart. I used their WiFi system vigorously as we had gotten word from Brisbane and South Australia that there had been a terrible fire where my brother, sister, nieces and nephew's and families live.
Our daughter Kerrie, and son Adam, as well as my sister Jude all have been so thoughtful at keeping us informed. Of all the places in India we have been, this has been the least satisfactory internet service - very frustrating. The most important news is that everyone was safe, even though farms, crops and equipment have been lost. With winds of 80kph and sever hat, this is a bad recipe for the SA cropping area at this
time of the year. Everything is so dry. It was such a relief to talk to my sister Sheryl.
The second bit of devastating news is that our dear friend, Alan S has been diagnosed with acute leaukemia. Life sucks sometimes.
This was the 26 November, a time we will remember as we caught our plane to Varanasi, just after 2.00pm.
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