A couple days of rest and relaxation

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After a couple amazing days in Agra it was time to wind down a little and just absorb it all. It was such a great place to get to and see the Taj!!! Just the fact that we got to see it and get right up close to it after reading about it and seeing pictures of it in magazines, it was beyond anything I could possible try to write down in words. There are certain moments or certain things that you see if life that you just can't put into words. It's just one of those 'Ya had to be there' moments. The best part was we got free time to walk around and just soak it all in and sit and try to comprehend that you are in a place that is really old and millions of people have been there to see it. They say that it is the most recognized man made structure in the world.

We took a train from Agra to a smaller town called Jhansi and then took a bus on those awful highways to a place called Alipura. The train was two hours delayed getting into Agra as the fog in the country is really bad right now. The trains slow down for safety as they are afraid on hitting things like cows on the tracks...lol. It was my second adventure on the train and it was a little better then the first as we got the air conditioned 2nd class car. It was more comfortable then the one out of Mumbai. I didn't have to sit with my bag at my feet. While riding along, I went to have a look out the doors at the end of the cars. Life just rolls by....or maybe it was us that rolled by. City to town to fields to town and more. People everywhere. Houses and shacks everywhere. Life everywhere here as I assume it has been everywhere here for centuries. I bet there are parts of Canada that a human has never been to....not so in India.

Upon arrival in Alipura, we were driven to the Heritage Hotel that we were at for two nights. These places are amazing.....palaces of the moguls from centuries gone by and still in the family and now catering to us western folk for convenience. They are primitive in some ways but spectacular in others for just the experienice. There was an elderly gentleman in traditional garb that greeted us each time we returned to the hotel at the door. He looked like a walking set of encyclopedias. He had wrinkles that each could probably tell more stories then I ever could. Little things like that add to the entire experience and I am soooo glad that I was part of a group to do this. I could never have found out about these places on my own or would have even thought of staying at a place like them.

After relaxing and getting the jitters out of our system from the bumps in the roads, we all went for a very liesurly stroll through the village. These small villages are hiden gems in this vast and VERY populated country.

The next day we went to another World Heritage Site....The Khajuraho Temples. They were built during one of the Hindu dynasties from the 10th to the12th centuries. seeing them now and knowing that they were built that far back, I can't imagine how the detail of the carvings and structures were back in those days. There has been some restoration work done but they are in really amazing shape. There were 80 temples built back then but today only 22 have survived. The grounds are immaculate and it was very peaceful to just walk around and soak it in as to where I was and appreciate being here. Again it was the feeling that you weren't really in India as there were few people around and you were not being hassled by hawkers and noise.

Then we returned to the hotel for another relaxing night around the fire pit and an evening chat with the king of the area and some great chai. We were just sitting around the fire and the king came down from his residence in another section of the hotel and sat with us and chatted. Who woulda thunk it....campfire, India and a king. Again I say it's the little things that make the trip more memorable then anything I could have tried to set up on my own. Wow!!!

Off to bed and then a bus ride off to Orchha in the morning.

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