Back to Home

Back to Asia Logs

Cenotaphs of Orchha

Leaving Orchha we had to take a taxi to get to Khajuraho, site of the famous ancient erotic temples. They really did live up to expectations, the usual beautiful stylings but with the added twist of erotic carvings. The main group are all enclosed within a garden which is well kept and lush green. Whereas Orchha seemed other-worldly, Khajuraho seemed other-timely. Anyone could set HG Wells "Time Machine" there without difficulty. It was so hot we made water pistols from bottles to keep each other cool, to the amusement of the onlookers. After this we hired bicycles to see the other temples which also provided us with amusement, Ali taking a short while to remember how to ride a bike! 

Erotic Art, Khajuraho

An horrific 14 hour bus ride took us to Varanasi. It took 14 hours because there was a major accident on the Grand Trunk Road and of course the traffic in both directions ground to a halt. To make it worse vehicles in the oncoming lane decided to switch into our lane, thusly blocking us completely. We did get to Varanasi eventually though and found a cramped room near the train station, but at least it had a TV, which we were happy about after spending all day on a local bus.

Varanasi was not as crowded, chaotic, dirty or dark as I imagined, although it was still very chaotic, crowded and dirty, but not particularly dark. The main highlight of course were the ghats lining the Ganges, especially the burning ghat for the corpses. We took a boat ride along the river to visit these ghats. At the burning ghat we saw three bodies in funeral pyres, in varying states of cremation. A worker from the ghat explained the whole process to us, how they crush the skull with a bamboo pole after three hours to let the soul free, how lepers, snakebite victims, pregnant women or small babies are not allowed to be cremated for varying reasons. It was so strange to think that people from all over India bring their deceased here to be burned and the remains (about the size of a football) thrown in the Ganges.

Burning ghat on Ganges river, Varanasi

On a lighter note, the other highlight of Varanasi is the silk and we took advantage of this by going sari shopping for Ali. This was great fun, sitting in the stores whilst the assistants paraded metres of fine silk in a myriad of vibrant colours in front of us. Eventually she settled on a purple and black sari, got a petticoat to match and we were all set. A tailor made the blouse from the sari and all that remained was for us to wait to find a female Indian to show her how to wear it, which we did in Puri. 

I just was not so impressed with Varanasi. It is on many peoples itinerary but it just did not click with me.

Somewhere that did however was Bodhgaya, our next stop. After our alarm failed to go off we had 20 minutes to get up and get packed, leave the hotel and get to the train station. We did it in 8. Unfortunately when we got there we found our train was delayed by 45 minutes, which eventually turned out to be 3 hours, much to our chagrin. We eventually got to Gaya and from there a short rickshaw ride to Bodhgaya. Why visit here? Bodhgaya is the site where Buddha found enlightenment, or Nirvana. The tree under which he found it is still standing, just behind the beautiful temple. Also in the grounds is a lotus pond absolutely full of cat fish. Why? Because visitors to the temple offer food to the fish and as a result they have bred at an exponential rate! 

Because of the presence of the Bodhi tree nearly every country with a sizeable Buddhist population has built a monastery here also, in the style of their own country. So you can visit the Thai monastery and believe for a moment you are in Bangkok, stand outside the Burmese monastary and have flashbacks to Rangoon or marvel over the 80 feet high statue of Buddha at the Japanese monastery and imagine what it would be like to be in Tokyo. Added to this the laid-back friendly nature of the locals and the low-key tourism set up and you can see why both Ali and really loved Bodhgaya. Certainly not the horror stories of the state of Bihar that fill the pages of the national press on a daily basis. Although the nervous way that the rickshaw driver pelted through the dark lanes on our way back to Gaya suggests the threat of bandits is very real outside of the cocoon of Bodhgaya.

Another long train journey took us out of Bihar and across Orissa to the coastal town of Puri. This is one of the holiest places in India and somewhere I had fond memories of from my last trip. It was relief to be back somewhere familiar and also to be back at a beach once again. We spent a week soaking up the rays, taking the odd dip in the rough seas, scoffing down all manner of tasty seafood and just laying back with not much else to do than attack the pile of paperbacks I have been hoarding for the past few weeks. By this time Ali's departure was looming and this was the only cloud on an otherwise sunny horizon.

Reluctantly we had to leave Puri eventually and we headed on to Kolkata. We arrived to find the city in the middle of a heatwave, with no respite from storms predicted. It was not so much the heat (40 degrees) but the 90% humidity which really caused the problems. We found it exceptionally hard to get motivated to wander around. We did manage some sightseeing however and I revisited the Victoria Memorial and the MP Birla planetarium as well as visiting the Kali temple for the first time. Needing to buy some last minute presents we spent a lot of time shopping in Chowringee and New Market, returning each time with bags full of cool souvenirs for Ali's friends and family.

My two highlights of Kolkata this time were a revisit to the Aquatica water park and also watching a Bollywood blockbuster at a local multiplex.

The blockbuster is called Kaal and has been hyped up all over the media in recent weeks to the point where Ali and I now recognise the stars, producer, director, the whole crew. The multiplex was unlike the cinemas I had previously visited in India and would not look out of place in the UK. the seats reclined, the sound was second to none and it was situated inside a giant shopping mall of western proportions, imaginativly called The Forum. It was really fun although we both wished our Hindi was a little better so we could follow the plot more closely. It was set in Corbett National park and the footage of the wildlife was pretty impressive.

Aquatica was much the same as last time - Indian lads ogling the girls, the girls entering the water fully clothed, lots of loud music and dancing, and of course lots of reasons why it would not pass EU safety standards, in some cases wondering how Indian safety standards let it pass! Another fun day had by all.

And then it was time for Ali to leave. Being a 6:50am flight I did not sleep the night before and we got a taxi to Dum Dum airport at 4am. At the airport I had to pay to be let into the first area and was not allowed to accompany her to check-in. Needless to say after she had a slight problem I got round the security by flashing Ali's ticket at them. All was fine, Ali went through immigration and I waved goodbye to my travel partner of 3 months. 

Since then a strange feeling has come over me. You all know I have travelled extensively on my own in the past but somehow I have forgotten how and why now. I wandered around Kolkata in a daze after she left, partly due to lack of sleep, partly due to lack of anything to do, partly due to loneliness. I was desperate to leave the city and even paid an extortionate amount of money to travel in AC 3-tier as sleeper class was full on the evening train to Guwahati. I did meet a travel angel in the foreign booking office though, a Polish girl who needed help with her booking. After helping her I left. I met her again later on Sudder Street and we sat and talked awhile before I had to leave for the station. This improved my demeanor somewhat and I was able to catch a taxi back to Howrah station without more drama. I boarded my AC carriage, feeling out of place and slightly uncomfortable. The train left and I soon fell into a fitful, dream filled sleep. 25 hours later I got out in Guwahati.