After stopping in cities with names like Nagpur, we make our way to Khajuraho, whose claim to fame you will discover shortly. It is a very small village, but with its own airport, so it must have something goin' on...
Above and below, pictures from another II class train trip. We don't do this because it's our first choice. We have no choice, really. Trains fill up crazy fast. Elbowing your way to the front of a "line", though it's really more of a heap, is a little bit of a metaphor of how I feel about booking these tickets. No, you can't just walk into a train office and book a train you want to get on. As if. There are lots of people trying to get places, and only so many spots. If a fixed number of spots isn't a concern, then go ahead, unreserved second sitting is what you've been waiting for. Besides, you get to see some interesting things, and meet some nice folks.
People bring you lots of food. We're very careful about what we eat.
This time around, Alex and I hold onto the choicer top spots. Since one must be willing to clamber around to get up here, it's less packed. And these are finally some photos, I feel, that capture the intimacy, joy, and fully embodied nature of this form of travel. Kids love to stare at us, but shyly, when they think we aren't looking. We're so weird looking, after all. I like to make faces and play with them.
So what is this Khajuraho we're after? It is no less than a cocktail of rocks, art, religion, and sex. What more could one want from a travel destination?
We stay at the Osho Zen guest house, perhaps an appropriate choice for this travel destination. Finally -- a guest house designed for backpackers, with something of a courtyard to meet and chat with other travelers, and swap stories and information. No more budget accommodation for Indian business travelers, or wherever we've been staying. These people speak our language! They serve pancakes and cornflakes for breakfast. I've gotten the hang of Indian sweets in the past few years, but Indian breakfast food, aside from Idli, Masala Dosa, and other nice south Indian fare, totally elude me. Westerners like bland food for breakfast. Mmm cornflakes, toast, pancakes, and sugar.
About 12 temples are in the main area, which costs 250 Rs to get into. It's a lot, but whatever. Indian nationals pay a fraction of this. Everyone working there finds it really funny that our ticket is only single entry, so for a day's visit it's 500 Rs. Ha ha.
This is one of the most aggressive towns we've been in, speaking of touts, begging kids, and so on. Speaking of getting screwed, below we have some fine sculpture, for which this place is so well known:
The breakdown of material here is interesting. In the interest of our broad audience, we will try to keep to a strict PG-13 rating. Or maybe that's R. I don't know. In any case, above, a rather tame sexual act depicted in stone. Things get much raunchier, with multiple people, and sometimes animals. If you dive into the flickr stream, perhaps zoom in on certain pictures, you will find all kinds of highly creative erotic material.
About 50% of the carvings are just plain sexy, as seen above, alongside Alex Rosmarin's interpretation of the finely carved ladies of Khajuraho.
The rest of the carvings are just nice carvings depicting all aspects of life, as far as we can tell. But that doesn't get you fame, does it?
Here is one of our many heroes, posing beside a fine piece of rock.
But these are old Hindu temples, after all, though none of the ones we visit are functioning. Above, a really nice carving of a pig. A source reveals to us that the many deities on the pig map to the fact that there are as many Gods, in Hindu theology, as hairs on a pig. Pigs represent money, and Lakshmi, the Goddess of money, guides this pig, though only her feet remain in this statue. We love pigs. And beside this boar, a Ganesh carving. Ganesh is very popular.
Did someone say animals? India is most well known for cows, but dogs, goats, and water buffalo appear in equal numbers. Below, some super cute water buffalo.
All these animals, whether they be dogs, buffalo, goats, or cows, are often pregnant, and babies abound. At home, we perceive animals differently, and aren't exposed to the full range of life in such a direct way as we are here, in India. And I mean this in the broadest sense, not just as we see depicted in rock here.
Above, one of the joys of being back on the backpacker circuit. A "German Bakery" run by a Nepalese man. Later we buy some cookies from his son. Nepalese are all over India, often in the most backpacker heavy areas. They are often masters of international cuisine, as well as, in general, being super sweet, and super hard working folk. I heart them.
Above, Alex on an outward journey from Khajuraho. Where are we going next? Varanasi.
