We were up early and made the kids have breakfast even though they were not thrilled. We told them they had to get their bodies going again. By 9:00 am we were on the road - for about 3 seconds - before we realized that Sandy was not with us! After she jumped in, we made the 4-hour, 180 km drive to Khajuraho. Yes, it takes that long to get anywhere. There are lots of little towns, many vehicles that must be passed, and cows, goats and pedestrians to honk at and swerve around. Kate was feeling a little better, but she still opted to drive with the Lewises (we had two vehicles), since we are the "sick" ones. We stopped for chai and soft drinks along the way and got to Khajuraho around 1:00 p.m. Connor was still feverish, so we started him on some antibiotics that we had brought with us from Canada.

Our hotel - Hotel Surya - was lovely, again one of the best we've stayed at in 4 months! It was spotlessly clean, with whitewashed corridors, marble staircases, and a central garden restaurant area that our balconies overlooked. No wonder that it's the editors' pick in the Lonely Planet India Guide. After checking in, we went for lunch at a local painter's house. The food was just as eclectic as our other meals, but at least Margaret was able to actually finish her plate. Barry was cautious about what he ate, and the kids declined to eat again. Tessa enjoyed the visit when the painter's highly precocious 3-year-old daughter took a shine to her and entertained us all with her antics. The paintings were really nice and we were each given a gift of a hand painted elephant, so we enjoyed our time there.

After lunch we went to the western temples, infamous for their explicit carvings depicting the full range of the Karma Sutra. It was a stunning, World Heritage Site, and we couldn't believe how gorgeous the grounds were! However, our local guide was a little less than stunning. He kept making crude jokes about the carvings. Some of the people in our group took offence to the comments (including us, though quietly), so it got quite uncomfortable and sort of ruined the day. We saw other guides using the same jokes and their groups howled with laughter, so we don't know if it was his delivery that was the problem or the fact that our group actually wanted to learn something about the temples. On that note, why all the sex? One theory is that these are Tantric images and, according to this cult, gratification of the baser instincts is one way to transcend the evils of the world and achieve enlightenment.

When we got back to the hotel, we decided to skip the folk dancing optional activity. It was one hour long, but cost 350 rupees each. We've already paid a lot for the tour itself so the optional activities multiplied by four was starting to add up. Instead, we went across the street with Kate and had spaghetti, pizza, and soup. Barry, of course, had butter chicken, still his favourite dish.

Back at the hotel, Barry booked our flight to Beijing so that was a relief. He found a seat sale for just under $600.00 pp, including all fees and taxes. We're pumped about seeing the Great Wall and the Forbidden City!

November 4, 2007

We let ourselves sleep in a little, celebrating the luxury of an 11:30 am start. When Connor and Tessa got up, we made them eat curd (plain yoghurt) and banana to settle their stomachs, on Binu's suggestion. It was delicious! Not! But it was time to take action against their stomach ailments. Barry ran out for a haircut and to buy bread and cheese for the kids, and the kids checked their E-mail. When we met at 11:30 we found out that the group had "voted" to stay in town for lunch, perhaps because of our sick kids. We felt terrible, but secretly a little relieved, since the restaurant had a good menu. Now they had chicken soup in addition to cheese sandwiches to tide them over.