Day 10 March 2 - 5 hour drive from Bandevgarh to Khajuraho to spend one night at the lovely Chandela Hotel, of the Taj chain.
Another daring drive, this time with a new driver, Bhala, and Steve still in his BarcaLounger car arrangement. Very happyThe scenery is a combination of farm and commercial that reminds of somewhat of what we saw in Vietnam. The more ambitious brick factories used large ovens and had tall stacks of finished brick. The dung piles looked like architectural expressions reaching 6 feet. Some of the designs looked like the top decorations of the temples! Hmmm.
The hand carts now contain heavy rebar and concrete beams. Saw one fellow pushing such a cart up hill… unbelievable. We also see lots of folks using cell phones…even while driving their motor bikes. Saw one young biker actually texting. The fields were lush with wheat, lentils, mustard, chick peas. Our guide, Vijay, always says, 'Teacoffee' as one word, "We'll stop for 'teacoffee' other refreshments."
We drive along the edge of Penne Tiger Reserve, crossed the Ken River (pronounced 'Cain') and arrived about noon at the Chandela Hotel for lunch, check in and meet our local guide for the compound of Hindu temples, our third UNESCO World Heritage site of this trip.
Kajuraho's original 85 temples were built from the 9th to the 12th centuries. Twenty two of the original temples are restored enough for people to visit. We learn that the main form represents the Himalayan Mountains, have 5 distinct parts to qualify as a temple, have amazing carvings that we can't show in mixed company, depicting the four stages of life: Creation, Duty, Pleasure, Salvation. Any damage to the Hindu God's statue renders the temple unusable for worship.
During this Hindu dominant period women wore no veils. When the moguls arrived and started claiming the pretty worsen for their harems, the Hindu women started covering up.
We go back to the Chandela Hotel for dinner for welcome and too-short night's rest.
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| Notice the 'Horn Please' note on the back of the truck. |
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| and along the way we see people sitting on the edge of this road. See all that room? |
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| Feed the goats in your silk sari. Right on. |
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| Beautiful dalia's in the hotel garden |
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| Enjoy life |
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| very steep climbing. See Mums shadow? |
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