Allipura

Another village, another palace to sleep in. We arrived late and had sunset drinks on the roof accompanied by much waving and shouting back and forth with the village children. This time the owner is the local MP whose family have dispensed fair play and justice in the area for centuries. The Allipura Palace is a throw back to the early days of the Raj. The walls are covered with pictures of long gone family members wearing turbans, long coats, swords and great bushy beards with moustaches that twirl at the end. The men are also very impressive. The rooms were large and kitted out with antique furniture. The dining room was huge having enormous tables providing for very spacious eating. The owner was present and held a meeting with twenty or so villagers the following morning.

The next day had a scheduled visit to the Kama Sutra Temples and an optional visit to a Tiger Reserve. The price for the tiger reserve was £40/ head and this seemed to be excessive to some of our fellow travellers. At least a majority had to go to made the trip worth while. Four of us were very keen to go but the others were concerned about the "high cost" vs low probability of seeing a tiger. Debate raged on and eventually two others were persuaded to change camp. The trip was on.

First the Kama Sutra Temples so called because of the erotic nature of many of the temple carvings. The temples were built long before the Mogul invasion and survived in immaculate condition because, having been swallowed up by the jungle, they were never found by the muslims who would certainly have destroyed them. The carvings hark back to a much more open form of Hinduism than exists today. The artist also show a sense of humour - I've included a picture of a distracted elephant. The only elephant in the complex of temples not to be facing directly ahead and concentrating on stamping on people.

A quick lunch and the majority were off to the tiger reserve. The trip was a real treat - 6 of us in a jeep and we never saw another soul until closing time. Immediately we were in the park we were surrounded by animals and they were not disturbed by our presence. We saw hundreds of little spotted deer, lots of (look up name) deer and dozens of (look up name) antelope. We also saw lots of black faced monkeys which we hadn't seen outside the park. Someone saw a mongoose and everyone saw at least two crocodiles. But so far no tigers. As the dusk began to gather we drove to the ranger station and bribed a ranger to tell us where the nearest tiger was. Some of the tigers wear GPS collars and their position can be pin pointed at any time. With an exact map reference we set off to find the spot where there was a female with two cubs. Unfortunately, the forest was very thick just at that spot. We moved around to a spot where we would see her if she moved to the river to drink. All to no avail, I'm afraid. It was sad to be within 30 yards of a tiger and cubs but not to catch a glimpse.

After meeting up with our fellow travellers it was home in the dark after a long and very dusty day. Jai, our guide, stopped the bus in a town, jumped out and came back with beers for those who were still awake. He really is well worth his tip.

Before setting off for our long dreaded, overnight sleeper train to Varanasi, we set out to tour Alipura village by bullock cart, taking in the local potter, wedding preparations, the village hospital and the police station. The locals thought this was hilarious - tourists on the back of a cart. Some drove up in a Tuk Tuk and were lording it over us. Everywhere we went people broke out into broad grins. The hospital was dry basic but had a six bed ward, maternity unit with delivery room, several clinic rooms and a resident doctor. The main complaints are colds and flu, infections and injuries.

The police station was a throwback to the wild west. You expected to see John Wayne behind the desk loading a Winchester. The cells had iron bar doors and bare walls and floors. There was a pile of mouldering blankets in a corner. The police had confiscated all of the registered guns in the district while the election campaigns were going on. People get too excited during elections.

The bullock carts took us to a mango orchard where a chicken curry lunch was being prepared for us. After the cooking lesson the younger travellers among us played a traditional chasing game which involved avoiding the catcher by climbing as high up a mango tree as possible. See how many people you can spot in the tree picture. Our alfresco lunch was delicious as ever and then, sadly, it was back by tractor to collect our bags and head for our overnight train.

We were seen off from the palace hotel by a couple of blind musicians. The rhythms and tunes they produced on primitive instruments were amazing.

At the door, the families' former enforcer, now elderly, saluted us and wished us well. We had our picture taken with him. Isn't he handsome.