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After seeing the best tourist sights of India we travelled from Agra to Jhansi on the train to get to a very small town called Orccha. The idea was to experience India outside of major towns as much of India is still very rural. "Real" India if you will. Our train wasn't until 10 so we didn't have to be up right at the crack of dawn which was nice! Took advantage of the Costa Coffee to grab some breakfast, and despite it being relatively costly, it was worth it for the croissant/muffin goodness! The train was late (as we had been warned it would be) and continued in that vein so our "3 hour journey" was nearer 4 and a half, but when you're used to SouthEastern trains, that's actually pretty good. Coming out of the station at Jhansi there were two things that hit us; firstly the heat, and secondly about 40 tuk-tuk drivers descending upon poor Vipul, all trying to get our business to take us the 20km to Orccha. It was pretty animated discussion amongst the drivers with Vipul staying brilliantly cool the whole time. It even looked as if it might escalate to fisticuffs which certainly would have been a different sort of entertainment, but hey, we want to see real India, and this is it! After about 20 minutes we chose 4 tuk-tuks, though rather unfortunately, our driver was much more interested in looking back over his shoulder to make sure Vipul was still near us (hence he would be paid), as opposed to focusing on the road so spent a large proportion of the journey veering slightly off the road. Again, real India! We made it to the Orccha Resort where we were staying at about 4 with a little hesitancy as we had been told we were staying in "deluxe tents" and weren't quite sure what to make of that. We needn't have worried though as they were proper hotel rooms complete with TV, air conditioning and ensuite bathroom just with material walls. The location of the resort was remarkable as when we opened our door we looked out at some ancient Chattris (like massively glorified tombs), which were about 100ft away! Quite a view! We went for an orientation walk later on though this was fairly unnecessary as there is only one road in Orccha so it would be mighty tough to actually get lost. It was really nice being out of the main cities as it was very quiet and we weren't being pestered every step we took by sellers and beggers. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a local vendor to have chai at the side of the road, along with a very friendly cow who tried to join in our circle! We also picked up some beers to take back to the hotel and had a mini party in the garden area between all the 'tents', complete with ipod music and pizza! Really nice to chill and socialise and get to know some of the people on the tour better.
The next morning we left the hotel about half 8....although we would have appreciated a lie in, we were getting a little used to the early starts and it was a good plan to see the palace complex and main temple before it got too hot, though it was already pretty hot that early and we covered ourselves in the factor 30! Our local guide fancied himself as a bit of a joker but was quite good entertainment as he told us the stories about the Kings and their concubines and secret tunnels to get to them etc. There were 4 palaces in the complex with some good photo opportunities but with the searing heat we all stuck to the shade as much as possible. Jo decided to nearly keel over inside so was escorted out and plonked in the shade for quite a while. We also visited the largest temple in the town but having seen some fairly spectacular things in Agra, it wasn't quite as exciting. We were arranged a buffet lunch in town by a friend of Vipul's which was vegetable daal and more traditional local foods which some of which were good (mixed veg daal), and some of which were more questionable (mango pickle).
We then had the whole afternoon to waste as our sleeper train to Varanasi wasn't until 10... so we hit the pool at the hotel. Nice. Unfortunately the heat really was unbearable so after a brief dip we dried off and the whole group retreated to one of the rooms to watch Crimson Tide on the TV - very cultural indeed. We headed back to Jhansi wondering whether any of us would be able to sleep on the train. Jo was allocated a middle bunk and I was given a top one, thinking it was the short straw. As it happened it was actually the best one as you weren't disrupted by people going past or climbing above you. And the middle one was definitely the short straw having all of about 2 and a half foot of space! One of the biggest reliefs was the presence of a western toilet on the train as we had all been dreading having to use a squat one on a train if we became ill! Not that we would go anywhere near the seat anyway....urgh. We settled down after about an hour or so and next morning arrived in Varanasi :o)
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