khajuraho

So I'm here in Khajuraho, If Rishikesh is the Yoga capital of the world Khajuraho is the erotic temple capital. This is where a thousand years ago, the king and his followers (in India kings could be replaced if they didn't meet the needs of the people), built these temples adorned with sandstone carvings of erotic and sensuous art. They carvings also depict daily life, with the elephants, horses and of course the multiple gods and goddess'. It seems from the historical records that it was a prosperous period that lasted about 250 years....................... I took the train from Hariwar to Jansai, a 16 hour, well.............uh...............let's just say it was a long trip. Lesson number 329, when booking train tickets and they ask if you want air-conditioning, but it's winter, you should still say yes, otherwise you end up in 3rd class. The train stations................When I arrived at 05:00 the station was lit with flashing colored neon and a few bare light bulbs, there were at least 200 people wrapped in shawls and blankets sleeping

on the floor, I was an hour early so I did same. One difference between India and China is that here there are no attendants, no official on the platform, none on the train. We were 2hrs into the trip before someone asked for my ticket. There was a group of two extended families from West Bengal in the seats and benches around me, they spoke some English but the accents were heavy and communication stilted, by the time my station arrived the car had more than 100 people on board. These include but not limited to Sikes, Muslims, Hindu monks, army men w/machine-guns, sadhus, families, boys with no legs shuffling along the floor asking for money, old blind women carrying racks of children's toys for sale (to get out attention she would shoot a plastic Luger as she walked the aisle), untouchables with caked and matted hair wanting to look at my book( which I showed him but it was obvious he couldn't read), and many more. I was the only westerner in the car but at the end many people came up to me and shook my hand and wished me a good journey.......................... At my stop I had no hotel reservation and it was after 10 pm, Lonely Planet listed one not far from the train station, I got an auto-rickshaw to it but they were full. The rickshaw driver, now accompanied by his boss said they would take me to another hotel. One can read about these scams, but still, in the moment, having had no sleep for 30 hours, and they ask you "sir, room o.k.?" you just give in. No hot water, no one in their right mind would use the toilet, at 4:30 someone decided to watch bollywood videos, but the sheets were clean and I slept sound..............................I'm hungry and the Internet man is trying to hustle me out so I'll post more later............

NAMASTE