Having got on the train at Bhopal last night, we had a 1.30am train change in Jhansi. Set our alarms to get up ready for the scheduled arrival but needn’t have bothered as the guard came round to tell us that it was our stop. Got off at an incredibly crowded station, picking our way over hundreds of sleeping bodies to find out the platform for our train to Khajuraho. Played ‘spot the rats’ to keep ourselves awake whilst we waited for our train to arrive. It was only 30 minutes late arriving and, after playing musical bunks with someone who was in our bed, we were back sleeping and snoring (or at least Jayne was – I was semi dozing to the lull of the noisy train). Arrived in Khajuraho two hours late at 8.30am. Couldn’t actually leave the train station with the amount of TukTuk drivers surrounding us, all shouting and trying to undercut each other with their price. Without even haggling, we got the 8km journey for 50 INR. I actually think he might have offered the journey at a loss just so that he had work! Got to the hostel who let us check in early. Had a shower and headed straight back out to get some breakfast. I ordered porridge with papaya and Jayne had porridge with mixed fruits. We then watched as the chef jumped on his push bike and returned 10 minutes later with a whole fresh papaya. He looked really sheepish as he snuck past us with the key ingredient for my breakfast!! Decided to walk around town and save the UNESCO Temples for tomorrow when we will be better rested. Wandered around the streets, watching (and avoiding!) the locals try to entice tourists into their shops. Khajuraho is one of the cleanest towns we’ve been to in India and it was nice to walk around in ‘fresh’ country air, looking at greenery. Headed to the bus station to check bus times to get us to Satna in a couple of days and then continued our walk to one of the town lakes. Sat under the shade of a tree, watching local women wash clothes in the water and ignoring the stream of walking street sellers trying to get us to buy calendars and maps of India.
Came back to the hotel for a bit of a rest before going out for dinner. We both felt like we needed a ‘break’ from Indian food so went to an Italian restaurant for pasta, gnocchi and garlic naan (the closet thing to garlic bread there was!).
As the waiter delivered the food, he said ‘Bon appetite’… Someone should probably tell him that that is French and not Italian! Picked up some chocolate on the way back to the hotel for dessert. Jayne watched James Bond on TV whilst I Skyped my dad and step-mum.