Morning came with Connor, Tessa, and Kate still not feeling great so we voted for private jeeps instead of public buses for the next leg of our trip. The trip to Orchha was wild, as usual, but our drivers got us to our new home without incident. We stayed at the Orchha Resort in Swiss-style tents. Picture big canvas tents, like out of archaeology movies, except with air-conditioning, TVs and showers! The beds were beautiful and we felt like royalty! The resort is situated next to the Betwa River and our tents backed onto riverside cenotaphs that seemed to fight their way out of the jungle, creating a "lost world" atmosphere.

We couldn't believe the contrast. Chanderi was the village of the common man while the Orchha Resort was a tourist haven with manicured yards, gated and fenced, and uniformed bellboys and greeters to open our doors and carry our luggage. The grounds included a swimming pool that the kids immediately wanted to check out despite their less than great health. We decided lunch was a bigger priority, so we went to the restaurant. The menu wasn't very kid-friendly and we wanted Tessa to actually keep something down, so the kids shared spaghetti and Barry and Margaret had soup. Afterwards, we enjoyed the Orchha sun by the pool.

When 3:30 rolled around, we met under a brilliant bougainvillea tree to go to the Taragram paper plant. The plant employs village women who take cotton remnants and recycle them through natural means into paper. We were happy to see that India is trying to save trees through recycling and give women from the area a chance to work outside of the traditional areas normally afforded to them. Afterwards, our tempo (a large auto rickshaw) driver invited us to tea at his house. We met his wife and 3 children and the whole neighbourhood came over to see us. After multiple pictures and delicious cups of tea, we headed home. We took an hour to freshen up and then Binu had a surprise for us.

We left the hotel as vultures peered down on us from the temple tops at sunset. As we walked through the rough, uneven streets, we heard the Hindu faithful chant incantations to lord Rama who they believe lives and breathes in Ram Raja temple. We walked past crowds of people watching Bollywood films on TV screens right out on the streets, people praying, people listening to announcements being made through loud hailers attached to vans, people walking around, chatting and shopping and, of course, cows. We stopped at a restaurant where Binu introduced us to the owner. But we didn't eat there. The restaurant owner began to walk with us. Soon we crossed a bridge, and continued walking towards the palace. We got to the palace. But we didn't eat there. Instead, we turned left and walked towards a light and the sound of music in the distance. As we entered the farmyard, we saw blankets on the ground surrounded by chairs, along with musicians and dancers.

A huge tree with a square swing held our plates and we realized we were going to have an outdoor dinner. We all took a seat and enjoyed the entertainment. The musicians were playing songs from the area and the dancers acted out the stories through their dance. It was a little strange when we realized the 'female' dancer was actually male. Binu said that women are often too embarrassed to dance so, for the purpose of entertaining, someone had to play the woman (very Shakespearean). When the meal arrived, we were a little daunted. It was huge. The kids declined, their stomachs absolutely not ready for it, but Barry and Margaret ate up. Each plate was massive with several concave "bowls" within it, filled with various dishes. We'd name it all, but we had no idea what it was. Much of it was very tasty, some spicy, and some pretty strange, but it was a great taste experience. Margaret couldn't finish hers, but Barry did the Lewises proud. After supper, Binu's friend showed us around his farm eventhough it was dark. It was a 6-acre piece of land that the king had given his grandfather, so that was pretty cool. It had mango, pomegranate, lemon, custard apple, banana and several other varieties of fruit trees, as well as vegetable crops. In the course of the evening, we all got up to dance and though we weren't near Bollywood standards, we had a pretty good time, anyway. Our walk back was just as interesting as the walk there; the streets still lively and festive as Dawali neared.

November 2, 2007

It was now Barry's turn to be sick. The rest of us got up and had breakfast, and then all of us (Barry included) headed to the palace. It was gorgeous inside. There were 2 separate parts, the men's section and the women's. The king had secret underground passageways to his concubines' chambers. He hoped his wife wouldn't find out about his extramarital affairs, although we all had a hard time believing the concubines wouldn't have blabbed. One palace was constructed over a period of 22 years, and then was given to a visiting king as a gift. He slept in it one night, but he died before he could return. In Hindu tradition, if a gift is given, it can neither be returned nor ever used by the giver again, so the palace has remained empty to this day. The palaces were constructed of sandstone and featured multiple stairways and balconies and the kids noted how fun it would be to play hide and seek there. At this point, Barry was feeling worse and didn't quite get through the tour so he headed back to the hotel.

After the palace, we went to the village and visited a tribe called the Sari. They do pottery, cobbling and farming but were very poor and their children do not attend school. How poor are they? As crazy as it sounds, it only costs 5 rupees a month to go to school (there are 40 rupees in a dollar, so we'll let you do the math), but they can't afford tuition.

We then drove to the Laxmir Temple and afterwards, we visited the cenotaphs up-close. There are 15 of them that were built along the river for royalty and, again, the symmetry and beauty of them was simply amazing. The view of the river with our campsite in the foreground was also stunning, and the only thing that marred the day was our missing Barry. We took pictures with Binu's camera so we could show him what he missed.

When we got back to the resort in the mid-afternoon, we tried to have a light lunch but we couldn't even finish that. The kids' stomachs have really shrunk with all the stomach problems they've had, so it might be a slow recovery. Connor seemed to be running a slight fever, which worried us, and we considered putting him on antibiotics but decided to wait another day or so to see what happens. On the plus side, Barry was feeling a lot better so we went down to the pool to relax and showed Binu some card games like '9-5-2', 'honeymoon whist', '99' and 'pass the ace'.

The optional activity for the evening was a cooking demonstration, something Connor, Tessa and Barry had absolutely no interest in seeing. Don't get us wrong, the Indian food is very interesting and we will try some again, but tender stomachs and home made Indian food just don't mix! Instead we spent the evening relaxing and the kids both had a light supper of soup and French fries.