Farewell to Agra. We were packed by 7:30 am and on the road to the train station by 8:00 am. Our next destination was a town called Chanderi, a small medieval town - home to Muslims, Hindus and Jains.

We got to the train station with time to spare but then the train was an hour and fifteen minutes late. It was fine, though. We visited and bought candies, magazines and tea. The train station seemed safe to us but we formed a circle around our bags anyway and hung out. Finally, the train arrived and we were on our way.

The experience on the train was unique, to say the least. We all sat in a sleeper compartment that had two long benches with bunks above. Our bags fit nicely and Connor and Tessa jumped up onto the two top bunks, so we had plenty of room and settled in for the 5-hour trip. The trip ended up feeling much longer as we encountered a never-ending parade of beggars who ranged from old, toothless women selling their wares; to small children with silver plates pleading "Hello? Money?"; to blind, legless men asking, quite forcefully, for cash. We even had a transvestite who threatened to flash us if Binu didn't pay up. He paid up.

To add to the difficulty of dealing with the beggars, a group of very rowdy teenaged boys had decided to make our area of the car their territory to hassle everyone who went by. In addition, they stared unabashedly at the young women in our group. Tessa and Kate were not amused. Connor, however, ended up befriending some of them, listening to their music and even getting juice and other treats from them. The worst moment came at one of the stops when a multitude of people simultaneously boarded with a huge amount of baggage. One woman declared we were in her spot and became very agitated, especially when Eric suggested she take a closer look at her ticket. All hell broke loose, but Binu handled things well, chatting long enough to find out that they had a common friend in Mombai. It turned out the woman was travelling with a gaggle of relatives for a weeklong holiday. She was connected to some powerful people and was very used to getting her way, plus one of her suitcases was full of jewellery so she wanted all of her luggage right beside her. We had to rearrange our bags to accommodate her 4 pieces, but we only had an hour left and we chalked it up as another "experience". When we got off the train, the rowdy boys, of course, wanted pictures of us, which we allowed somewhat reluctantly and then we headed for the next part of our trip.

We jumped into two jeeps and headed to the country. Small houses gave way to nice farmland, and though the houses were certainly primitive, there appeared to be some structure of family life.

Awhile later, we stopped for tea. For some of the group, it was probably the last thing they wanted to do, but we went into the small primitive hut and sipped our masala chai. Children from the area came together for pictures, barely standing still long enough for the picture to be taken before grabbing at the digital cameras to see their pictures. They gave us flowers and said goodbye and thank-you as we drove away.

Our next stop was a dam. It was a 17 km structure dividing two states, the construction of which created a huge lake that had swallowed 83 villages along with countless historical temples and buildings. It supplied one state with electricity and the other with irrigation. We took some sunset pictures and then headed on to Chanderi.

We booked into a basic but clean hotel called Hotel Shreekunj. After a quick shower, we reconvened at 7:30 pm and walked through the dark streets to our local guide, Kalibai's home. His family greeted us and we learned that he has 9 children! His daughters and wife had prepared a beautiful 8 course meal of soup, fish, chutney, lentils, vegetables, chapati, crunchy chips, potatoes, and cream of wheat with local dried fruit for dessert. We all found something to enjoy and the visit was lovely. After supper, Kalibai's daughter (who'd won an award for her Henna skills) hennaed the girls' hands and did a lovely job while Kalibai showed us his collection of coins, some dating back as far as 3000 BC. Barry borrowed a book that discussed the history, demography, and social structure of the town and we walked back to the hotel, filled with new knowledge about Indian tradition and culture. Chanderi is a small town in rural India which afforded us a fascinating insight into local life. The people were friendly and genuine and we were pleased with the authentic experience we were getting on the tour, especially considering that we hadn't seen another white person that entire day. Kalibai told us there had never been a white person in the village prior to 1990 so the stares we were getting were not rude; they were stares of curiosity just as we were curious to explore the town the next day.

October 31, 2007

It was 5:45 am and Connor was sick. Kate was sick, as well. They both opted to stay in bed all day. We were so sad because we had a great day ahead of us.

The day had dawned cloudless and warm and the rest of us started off with a quick breakfast in the lovely garden area outside of the hotel and then started our walk around Chanderi. We went to a mosque and enjoyed its beautiful contours, climbing up the stairs to see it from the top. We saw another mosque that the town was busy restoring. It would be wonderful to see when completed. From there, we checked out a pottery maker and his family who were busy making oil containers and painted bowls for Diwali. We explored an ancient pool that was once used by the royal family for recreation. Today, it was busy with a man washing his hair and a woman washing her clothes.

Awhile later, we found ourselves visiting with a family who were the descendants of the Royal Advisors. We had tea and got a tour of their home. The family was lovely and we took pictures of the grandmothers and even got to see some ancient books. Sandy wanted to check out some saris so Binu arranged for us to visit a sari shop and check out the fabrics, which were beautiful.

Next, we had an introduction to the Jain religion, a bizarre philosophy where the monks cannot kill any living thing, including bacteria and mold. The holiest men go naked and cannot eat meat or dairy or anything that grows beneath the ground or has seeds. Totally mind-boggling.

To round out the morning, we walked to some ruins which were beautifully situated in the fields where we saw the tombs of star-crossed lovers and another pool built by a leper king who was cured by the water there. The people of the town still swim there, though our guide said it probably wasn't the most hygienic place to bathe. Overall, it was a wonderful morning.

When we got back to the hotel, Connor and Kate were still not operating at full steam. We left them behind again and went for a roadside picnic on our way to view some rock paintings from the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic times. Afterwards, we saw another Jain temple, which was stunning, and finally we enjoyed the sunset at the Fort that had a brilliant view of the town. What a great day!

Of course, there were some negatives: (1) Connor was sick all day; (2) The camera slipped from Barry's lap to the ground while at the picnic and broke, and (3) Tessa got sick again at the fort and spent the rest of the night feeling very ill indeed.

That night, after we settled the kids, we sat outside and visited with Binu and the rest of the group, enjoying their company with a small bottle of rum and some cold beers.