I got to the airport with three hours to spare before Pete's plane arrived, so I sat and chatted to a nice guy at the Hotel Reservation Desk and he got us booked into a hotel for about 2/3 the price of what the hotel had quoted me on the phone. I then went and had a really nice meal in the Airport Restaurant, best one of these I've ever eaten in ! It took Pete an hour to get his bags and then another hour later we finally got to the hotel at 2:30am, where we were upgraded to the Thames Suite, ooh la la ! Spent the next two days wandering about Mumbai enjoying the scenes near India Gate, but didn't get to go to Elephanta Island or the Museum because they are closed on a Monday, so we hope to visit these when we return to Mumbai for a few days before heading to Australia. Another experience with the bureaucracy of the train system, our tickets were still on the waiting list and hadn't moved up the list in the past five days, so we went to visit the Commercial Manager who was absolutely useless and even had the cheek to ask me if I understood English ! After visiting the complaints counter and a very helpful customer service guy, we spent another few hours in a fantastic café called Leopolds which is recommended in the Lonely Planet guide and certainly lives up to its review. We finally found out just two hours before the train was due to depart for Jhansi that we had been allocated sleeper beds, so we boarded the train and spent the next 18 hours sleeping and watching the scenery pass by. It was great to arrive at Jhansi station and find my friend Beeru running down the ramp to greet us. After arriving back at the resort, we freshened up and then Pete was ready to go out and meet all my friends in Orchha. He has soon come to learn what I have been saying, that you can't go from Point A to B without being stopped 10 times along the way to have chai (tea) or food or simply to chat ! The very next day we went up to see Rajne, the little girl with the deep wound on her backside. We went immediately to the government hospital and met with the doctor and head nurse, where we found out that she will never be able to walk again because a piece of her spine was removed not long after birth and she has polio, but they are able to at least dress the wound and try to get it healed over which should take only 4 weeks if successful. Knowing that nothing had been done for months because the family can't afford the medicine, Pete & I decided to sponsor the treatment that Rajne requires, not very expensive at only 47 Rupees (60 pence) a week. A couple of days later, Pete took our friends Indu, Beeru, Bineet, Amet and Bobby on a three hour rafting expedition on the River Betwa. I was too chicken to try it, but Pete reckons it was good fun and wants to go again, so I might just have to give it a go afterall. The next day Indu took us on a sightseeing trip to Khajuraho, where we stared at lots of carvings on the 11th century temples trying to figure out what all the strange erotic positions were ... look out for the photos on this website, but please make sure you're over 18 years of age ! Later that afternoon we went to Panna National Park to look for the lesser-spotted tiger, definitely 'lesser' in our case as we lucked out today, but we did see some spotted deer, samba antelope, monkeys, peacocks, wild boar, four elephants and a huge spider. The road between these places and Orchha was so rough and bumpy, we were most pleased to get back to the resort (alive) after numerous head-on collisions were averted at the last minute, something normal in India ! Four hours each way and lots of walking around made us ready for our beds that night. The next day, Indu again took us sightseeing, this time we spent the day going to Gwalior. There is a huge fort there which is 3km long and 100m above the road level, with many beautiful tiled decorations and carvings. We also saw a number of temples, but what really did it for me was the Jain sculptures carved into a huge rockface, they were so impressive and reminded me of Abu Simbel in Egypt. The next three days we were supposed to rest, whilst Indu was busy with his tour groups. However, Pete came down very ill (and is only just starting to recover now, a week on) and I still had some strange scabs all over my face which had been there for a week and weren't showing any signs of disappearing, so we spent five hours in Jhansi waiting to see doctors. At the first doctor's residence, we were the fourth on the list that came through the door, but due to the local queueing system we managed to come in a poor 24th ... not sure if this is due to people paying 'baksheesk' (bribe), being of a higher caste system (but how can they get better than an Aussie chick and an English gent?!), or simply because those who push the hardest get in first ! Anyway, we found out we both had Pharyngitis which affects the throat, yes I passed this on to Pete and was getting better myself now. We then were told to go to a skin specialist about my scabby face, where they had a good system in that I had to pay Rupees 150 (£2) but at least I got a card with Number 2 on it and I actually got in to see the doctor in that order. Found out I have Impotigo, something which usually only occurs in children, guess I picked it up shaking all those hands ? I then had to have both a culture and blood test, Pete asked if they were sterilised needles and the guy was insulted and said 'this is a medical college', oh well it pays to be sure about these things ! Anyway, several tablets and lotions later, with good results from my tests, we are now both on the mend. I went to a 'mutton party' (mutton instead of vegetarian, with lots of beer and whisky to absorb the meat!) during the week, but Pete was still sick and stayed in bed. I continued with my teaching up at the school, with Pete coming one day to help me play 'Pin the Arm on the Man' when I was trying to teach them basic words beginning with A such as Arm, the kids had a great time being blindfolded and having some fun instead of just working and studying all the time. My friend 'Tiger' sent me to a tailor during the week to get measured up, as he is buying me a Salwargupta, which is a more casual Indian style of clothing, so look out for the photos when this is finished being made. We have just spent a three day weekend sightseeing with Indu again, this time going out of Orchha for the whole time. The first two nights we spent in Chanderi, a lovely little village that is renowned by the locals as THE place to buy silk sari material, so yes I bought another 5 saris, so I have a full set to wear for the week now ! Indu wants me to wear saris all the time instead of my jeans and tops, he said everyone comments on how 'beautiful' I look when I dress up, I have even started wearing lipstick everyday which they all love too ! Anyway, Chanderi is even more wonderful because it is one of those lovely little places that hasn't really been discovered by tourists yet, in fact Indu has started taking Intrepid groups there and they are they only tour operators to go there so far. All the kids followed us and wanted to talk, everyone wanted their photos taken with us, but not one single person asked us for money in return ... this is how you can tell that mainstream tourism hasn't reached their village yet. We spent the first afternoon looking at rock paintings which date between 10,000 - 40,000 years old, these were discovered by a local guide that Indu knows who showed us around for the whole weekend. The sad part is that this guide has discovered many paintings (that look similar to Aboriginal art) and also very old coins, but has written in vain to the archeological departments and asked for them to be preserved, but as usual bureaucracy rules and so with every monsoon season that passes more of these paintings disappear. The second day in Chanderi, we went to see the Fort and Cloud Gate in the morning. That afternoon, my friend Babban arrived with his French girlfriend and all the teachers from our school, we all had a picnic by the lake and ate traditional Indian food on plates made out of leaves. After lunch, we went to visit a Jain temple and saw some more carvings in the rockface. The rest of the group went off to do other stuff, whilst Indu then took us to see the tombs of the royal family and the Delhi gate. That night, Pete stayed in the hotel and became an expert in Indian plumbing if you know what I mean ! I went off to the hotel manager's house to meet his family and spent lots of money on saris, then coming back to the hotel for a 'chicken party' with Indu, the tour guide, our driver and the hotel manager. The chicken was absolutely divine, whatever spices they cook it in tastes wonderful and it goes really well with a few vodkas too ! Our last night was spent in Shivpuri (town named after Shiva the 'Destroyer', one of the three main gods in the Hindu faith). We visited the beautiful Chatris (cenotaphs in English, dedicated to the Kings who have died), this complex also had a lovely marble temple. The next morning we left the hotel reasonably early, to get to Mavha National Park in the hope of spotting a tiger. We were in luck, as there is one female tiger aged 14 years that is kept in a fenced off area, we were told this is because she is very dangerous and has attacked in the past. She looked so beautiful, like I could just lay down with her and tickle her belly, although when she stretched herself up a tree and put out her huge claws to scratch the wood, I changed my mind about getting too close ! We also saw lots of crocodiles and birds by the lake, monkeys, gazelle, samba antelope, spotted deer and chitals. After leaving this park, we stopped to see a 11th century fort, which was built to protect three 9th century temples dedicated to the Gods Brahma, Vishnu & Shiva. We returned to our hotel about 2pm, ready to take a dip in the pool. We will update on the rest of our diary next week.