Our stop in Khajuraho provided us with tranquillity, peace
and relaxation after spending four days in hectic Varanasi and was probably one
of my favourite places so far. This is the site of the famous kama sutra
temples which are some of the most impressive and intricate temples I’ve ever
seen. Our first day was spent checking into the peaceful ashram that we stayed
at, hiring bikes and riding to town, and then exploring the Western group of
temples. While all the carvings are impressive and seem to have the amazing
quality of dancing on the temple walls, the frequent kama sutra positions were
not only erotic but highly visual, leaving nothing to the imagination. I found
the depiction of a horse as a man’s best friend both disgusting and amusing,
making me wonder what they must have gotten up to 1100 years ago in those small
villages for entertainment. Our first night’s entertainment was recommended by
a local and was really enjoyable consisting of traditional dances and displays
of acrobatics and martial arts.
The rest of our time was spent exploring the other temples
of the area, a local waterfall and also going to the sound and light show which
gave us a bit of history about the creation of the temples. Matt especially enjoyed our hilarious session
of yoga at 7.30am with an instructor we couldn’t understand and excercises that
seemed pointless including eye rolling. However the laughing yoga was
particularly enjoyable and gave us all the chance to crack up without offending
the instructor. One of the most memorable things about our stop in Khajuraho
was the time we spent with one of the local guys who worked at the ashram and
invited us back to his local village for chai, lunch, and to visit his family
and local hindu temple. Although his name was Kallu, we have dubbed him ‘Smiley
Joe’ in recognition of his continuous smile and genuinely happy, friendly
nature.
There’s not too much more to tell about this stop except how
impressive the temples were, how relaxing the town was and how friendly the
people were. I already wish I was back there J
Missing you all and hope these blogs are actually portraying
how amazing this trip has been so far and how incredibly diverse and fun this
country is to travel through.
Ki
xx
yoga
