Khajuraho

[What I have written here is my interpretation and understanding and could be badly flawed. I was only there for a day.]

Layers of development

Open a browser page, go to Google, enter 'Khajuraho', click on images and see what you get. Orgy central. Sex of all varieties from relatively tame to pedophilia and bestiality. Amzing positions that have you wondering about occupational safety. All in sandstone and very, very old. Most shocking to our protestant western minds is that all this is to be found on temple walls. It's so easy to get the impression that that's all these temples are about. It's not.

Sarnath

The Bodhi Tree

The Deer Park in Sarnath  is the place where the Buddha gave his first sermon, after his enlightenment at nearby Bod Ghaya. There pictures are of the Chinese temple; another temple;  the bodhi tree, a tree grown from a cutting off the original tree; us having lunch and then the archaeological dig at the stupa which dates from the 1st century BC.

Indian Trains

Overnight to Varanasi on the Shiv Ganga express. Boarding was a flurry of people getting over-size baggage into the tiny compartment and stowed under the bottom bunks. The family on the bottom bunks had extended family visiting from elsewhere in the train. At one stage I counted 15 people in the compartment.  We were on the top bunks so we just hid in our perches and watched the passing show and listened to the sound of a language that that we understand nothing of.

All the boarding and organizing was done with a false sense of urgency and then left us with 30 minutes to go before departure. Using the time available, Abrie and I headed off down the platform in search of bananas and water, leading us to the Standard Class of the train. It's great that they call it Standard Class, avoiding the rather denigrating 3rd class that we have.

Varanasi

In Varanasi 

Afternoon walk in the area of the hotel folowed by the evening out on the tiver on a boat for the sunset ritual in honour of Mother Ganga ( the Ganges river and also symbolic in this case of our forebears). The ritual involves floating little bowls containing a candle and flowers on the river.

Around Delhi

This post has sections for all the good goodies in Delhi.

Arriving in India

Flying into India in the dark pre-dawn, the lights on the ground look like something from a sci-fi movie. Villages far below are like amoebas: they don't have discernible structure, no grid of streets, no lines. Rather they follow the forms of the land and so are all different but all with a thick bit in the middle and tendrils of lights curving off into darkness. As we approach the more densely populated areas, the villages move closer together, tendrils of light joining up to create something that looks like those depictions of neurons in the brain: a network of joined blobs wth messages moving between them as early-morning travellers' lights go out on the linking lines. The whole thing got really scifi as we approached Delhi. Delhi's illuminates its smog and fog so that it sits there like a massive glowing brain, surrounded by its rural neural network.

India doesn't just look organic but behaves that way too. Initially the traffic is horrendous and really frightening. Our early-morning ride in a tuktuk to go and get scammed out of Rs200 (R30) really had me scared. But it all works and it works because  everyone is totally aware of the chaos they're in. At one stage, our side of the double road became too crowded for our driver so he crossed to the other side and rode against the traffic. Much hooting but it works!  In a world where road rules are completely ignored, except for red lights which still have some meaning, there few accidents, mostly very minor, the locals tell me.

Perhaps this is our future in South Africa?

Food walks

We went with Sid, a local, to a tibetan refugee community who live in an area of narrow streets, lined with shops, eating places, touristy shops and Buddhist centres. Sid is a serious foodie and had us going to street stalls, restaurants and plain down-and-out dives to eat the most amazing food. Tibetan food is spiced but differently and not as hot as hot Indian food. it was amazing, both for the food ad well as being in the community with their Tibetan features and many in traditional or monastic wear. We were the only tourists I saw there - It's nice to be with a local. 

After that we walked through the streets and their cacophony of noise, sight and smell to get to the metro and, finally, to a friend's house in an up market neighbourhood.  More wonderful food, South African wine and excellent company.

Abu Dhabi

 Crumby airport but a cool building.