Amazing, Outstanding Orchha

We were told by the guide that to get to the next destination we would have to sit for 5 hours on a non air conditioned carriage on the train where we would get alot of hastle from the locals. He said the place where we were staying in was a communal tent with one toilet and shower and not to worry as the village was nice. Naturally we were not really looking forward to this. It turned out he was having us on. The train pulled into the station and he directed us to the air conditioned carriage much to everyones relief as in the other carriages people were hanging out of the windows and doors.

We arrived in Orchha after an hours bumpy tut tut ride from Jansi station. The place we are staying is beautiful. We have lovely individual cottages and there is a swimming pool, bar, restaurant and wifi. The place has gorgeous gardens and backs onto a wide river (the River Betwa). The guide said he always prepares people to accept the worst then they are really pleased.

Orchha itself is a true Indian hidden gem. The word Orchha means “hidden”. It is a small village surrounded by jungle (with lots of monkeys). What makes it outstanding is that the village contains about 30 stone palaces and temples.

In the morning we walked around some of the palaces and they really were incredible. Extremely large decorative buildings with wonderful paintings some 4 stories high containing 150 rooms. We had the place to ourselves as there were few other tourists. I would rate the area as one of the most incredible places I have visited the shear number of palaces and temples and the architecture was staggering. It definitely compares to Angkor Wat in Cambodia but with less hype.

The village itself is small but has lots of shops to buy souvenirs and unlike other places we visited it is very safe to walk through the village (avoiding the cows and cow pats) without getting any hassle. For lunch we went to  the house of a lady in the village who cooked us some wonderful food and was really friendly. Even Chris managed to eats some though the dish containing the aubergine was really spicy. She then painted my hand with henna.

So tommorow night we are doing the over night train then the camping trip and sailing down the Ganges. We are having a fantastic time, it is go go go, very tiring and so hot and sweaty but so worth it.