Khajuraho 2

Except before the much needed beer we had one more Jain temple to visit.

 This one was rather more traditional in design.

There was a family of owls up in one of the trees but this was the best shot I could get.

Back into the centre of town and we stopped to have our picnic lunch on the top floor terrace of a rather basic restaurant.  We then had a couple of hours still to spare before we left for the airport so Ian and I took a wander around town.

Turning a corner we came upon this guy who seemed about to kiss his camel.

As is often the case in India, the children and adults alike were delighted to pose for photos.

Another sugar cane crusher.

I was surprised to see such heavy kohl make-up on these young girls.

Khajuraho airport was quite small and very quite and despite all I'd ready about luggage being weighed and hefty excess fees being charged nothing of the sort happened.  Once in Delhi our coach driver either took a wrong turning or didn't know where he was going and it took over an hour to get to our "aerocity" hotel which was literally 10 mins away.  When we finally arrived it was a lovely hotel but the reception staff were completely inefficient and took forever to check us in - almost as though the booking was a surprise to them!  As a result we barely had time to change before we were due to meet up in the restaurant for the last supper which somehow B convinced Deepti that Naturetrek should pay for (he'd been on many trips and said it was the norm).  The food was buffet style and plenty of choice  but the evening would have been much nicer if we could have sat altogether instead of tables for 4 (naturally we sat with B&L).  The following morning we had to be at Delhi airport for a 10:00 flight and fortunately we were able to use fast track check-in etc.  Sadly the lounge was closed due to a dispute between the airport and the lounge company so we were given vouchers to spend in a café - not quite the same but I knew before we left it would be the case.  Once on the flight we were again treated like royalty by the Qatar stewardesses and the flight to Doha passed quickly.  As we had a 5+ hour layover we invited B&L to join us in the lounge and spent a jolly time chatting with them and doing crosswords.

The final pictures are of the massive new rainforest atrium in Doha airport - had we been on our own I think we'd have explored the area a bit more but we were conscious of a long walk to the lounge.

Overall the holiday was brilliant; excellent value for money given that all food and flights were included but a very hectic schedule and the only real downside for us was the distinct lack of photographable wildlife.

Khajuraho 1

Presumably to kill time before our late afternoon, 1 hr 15 min, flight to Delhi, we visited the Khajuraho Monuments; a group of Hindu and Jain temples built in 9th-11th centuries, which are some of the best known for stunning nagara-style architecture and the erotic sculptures which grace the temples (said to have been inspired by the ancient Sanskrit text Kama Sutra).  The drive from Tendu Leaf was only about half and hour so having got up early for the boat trip we didn't need to leave until 0930.

The complex is huge and we had quite a long walk from the car park.

We were taken round by a very informative and engaging local guide but unfortunately, for me, we were just looking at more piles of old stones albeit put together into some rather amazing structures and certainly decorated with some eye watering reliefs.  

But most of all it was HOT, about 15°C hotter than we'd had the whole trip and of course we were now walking in the open and not speeding around in trucks.

Some of the buildings looked remarkably like those we'd seen at Angkor Wat which I suppose is actually no great surprise as originally that complex was dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu and constructed a couple of hundred years later.

Ah!  I do at least recognise Ganesh, the Elephant God.

I knew just what they meant!

Deepti refilling her water bottle from the gardener's hose - she forbade us to do the same.  Incidentally, like me, she refused point blank to use public toilets having once caught something extremely unpleasant from one.

Clearing away the grandstands etc from the G20 Culture Working Group Summit which had been held here the day before.

It really was too hot to concentrate on what the guide was telling us, even for Ian who normally retains all the info.

This bougainvillea really was superb.

Thanks to my lovely long lens I was able to get a nice close shot of this guy.

Another lovely plant but I don't know what it is.  A year or so I downloaded a plant ID app and so far it has been completely useless (it didn't even manage to correctly identify a mature Garrya elliptica which I regularly walk past and thought would be a good test)

It was now really, really, really hot and all we could think about was an ice cold beer so back to the bus and a short drive into town.