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The following morning we went back to the station and had a quick meal before waiting an hour and a half for our delayed train. There we met a young boy who struck up a conversation to practise his English. He told us his dream was to work in technology and to earn his own money so that he could take his parents on holiday out of India. His top places to visit were Paris, London, Rome, Brazil and New York. He asked us how many times we had been on a plane - a real reminder of how privileged our lives are back home. He helped us on to our train and we waved goodbye as he got off at the next stop. After a comfy 6hr journey, we arrived in to Khajuraho and were met at the station by a guy from our hotel. We were offered a table on the rooftop for dinner, and ate by candlelight alone under the milky way - not something you get to do every day! You could see the whole band, like a rainbow of stars. The following morning we went to visit a waterfall, however it wasn't quite the gush of water we were expecting. The monsoon had only brought a few days rain, so the levels were low, making it look like a mini canyon and exposing the various rock colours. We went on a mini walk with our compulsory guide, and he showed us a king vulture and Egyptian vultures in the woods. Back in khajuraho, we went to look around the main set of ancient kama sutra temples. They were intricately carved and displayed many, er, physically demanding positions (including a headstand - how?!), as well as some more unsavoury ones involving animals. Some of the local street kids were back from college in Delhi for their holiday, and started talking to us. They took us to a couple of shops, obviously on commission, and offered to show us round the old town on their motorbike. The next day we hired two bikes that were of questionable quality; Hugo kept veering of to the left due to a wonky front wheel. They somehow managed to get us round the eastern group of temples which were very similar to the western temples. A different young lad started up conversation and opted to guide us around some other jain temples, and then showed us his house. Like many others we have met, he had an impressive coin collection. I donated 50p to his cause and we headed off. That evening we headed to the town centre to see the local talent show for the navrati festival. We caught the last two acts; a boy doing some sort of Indian hip hop fusion dance, and a band whose purpose it seemed was to get everyone to leave. Our intention was to leave that night but our train was fully booked so we had to stay another night. With our extra day, we looked round a tribal art museum, bought a rug, and had dinner in a treehouse.
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Davina Glad to see the blog being updated. Lovely to hear your about your adventures! What a meal to remember - would take a lot to live up to that! Rug hasn't arrived at home by the way! Mum A