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Published: January 21st 2009
31 Dec - we catch yet another train this morning to Jhansi then travel by tempo - a jumbo size auto rickshaw / tuktuk that sits 6 people rather than 3, to the quaint village of Orccha. En route, we stop at Tarragram, a unique paper making plant set up to assist tribal women from the area. We watch the whole paper making process from recycled clothing then buy lots of nice stationery items.
Our hotel is a gorgeous resort with pool and luxury tents. We have a quick lunch then explore some of the many monuments and temples in this area, including the Chaturbhuj Temple whiich has amazing architecture combining Hindu AND Muslim influences. Watch the sunset from the fairytale-esque towers and enjoy the rural views before striking some yoga poses with the girls for the camera!
In the evening we walk to the main square in the village to watch a puja ceremony at the Ram Raja Temple. It's interesting to watch the Hindus praying then offering sweets to the gods and receiving a small piece back together with being given a tika on their forehead by the saddhu.
It's Hogmanay! Few drinks with Bhup then
join the New Year celebrations being arranged by the hotel. We give the buffet meal a miss and head straight to the gardens instea,d with the locals, to enjoy the thumping music, hit the dance floor (to quite a few Bollywood tunes that I now know!) and LOTS of drinking. At midnight there's fireworks and various drunken phone calls made, think I make it to bed about 2am...
1 Jan - extremely hungover, just a usual New Year's Day for me then! Have a long lie and quiet day. Wander round the village which is extremely busy. Late afternoon we visit a very friendly local family home for a cooking class. The mother is an excellent cook and explains how to make masala chai and SEVEN different veg dishes. There's 4 of us 'helping' (the other two girls are at a neighbours house having henna applied) and we assist with shelling peas, peeling and chopping before tucking into a Thali feast. While the woman (who is about mid 20's) is cooking she is also explaining, in English, the ingredients being used, being the perfect hostess as well as looking after her cute wee baby, and all this during a
power cut, what a woman!
About 8pm we drive to Jhansi station (stopping en route due to a puncture!) and catch the overnight train (and our last train for this trip) to Varanasi. We're about an hour late boarding at 11pm and then due to bad fog don't arrive in Varanasi until 3pm the next day which is about 3 or 4 hours behind schedule! The joys of travelling by train in India...
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