Friday 8 November
We packed up and got ready to leave for Orchha. Lorraine had been out shopping and had bought three bags for her children so we called her the bag lady!! (just meaning the lady who had bought the bags - sorry Lorraine!)
The journey was four hours and we had to take a detour because a bridge was broken. We ended up travelling across a field (someone's ploughed and very muddy field!!) in total chaos with everyone else - but we got to see some pretty villages that we would not have seen otherwise!
We were staying in 'luxury tents' for two nights so we were all quite excited!
The attached hotel interior was quite luxurious so we had high expectations!...
What a disappointment - they may have been luxury twenty odd years ago but they were decidedly faded and jaded!! It was probably made worse by the fact that we arrived in fog and mist and it was quite chilly! We weren't used to this weather!
But we soon cheered up when the sun came out! And the tents were certainly in a beautiful location with temples on one side and the river on the other.
Gr M and I went for a walk down by the river - the scenery was absolutely beautiful!
In the evening we walked down to the temple to watch their evening ceremony which was quite interesting. Lots going on and lots of people - but no photos allowed.
We then went out for yet another meal (we have done lots of eating on this trip!!!) in a tiny ramshackle cafe/restaurant/bar which looked like a little nothing place but which had a lovely rooftop bit where we ate very well for not much at all!
It had a Trip Advisor sticker so I will be looking it up and giving it a review - it was called the Ram Raja.
Saturday 9 November
We were woken at 6am (dawn) by the boom, boom of massive fireworks from the nearby temple. We were literally on their doorstep.
It was very misty - I went for a quick look at the river but there wasn't much to see.
We went back to the Ram Raja for breakfast. Lorraine ordered hash browns - expecting, well - hash browns!... What she got was something very Indian!
She doesn't do Indian!... It was an interesting meal. Anne ordered a Spanish (Indian Spanish that is) omelette and when it arrived it was the size of her plate. So the food in there was very good - or at least we thought so - not sure about Lorraine!
We then went for a walk round the Royal Palace which was lovely. I saw a man sort of half following me through a couple of the rooms - he then came up to me and asked if he could touch my feet. I had seen Badam touch the toes of the owner of one of the hotels that we had stayed in - it is a mark of respect. So the man just touched both feet, thanked me and went! Not sure why he did it - maybe my age? maybe because I was white? - don't know.
Our group l-r: Kirsty, Rupert, Andy, Anne,Naomi, me, Robert, Mike, Debbie, Lorraine, Noel
Our group again - with Badam!...
Not so sure about these three wise monkeys!...
At various times during the trip we have attracted lots of attention - especially Debbie and Kirsty who are both blonde.
There were some interesting characters about!...
Later we went out on motorised tuk tuks to look at a factory which Intrepid supports - where paper is made from remnants of cotton fabric.
We then walked down to the market and had great fun with the young girls on the stalls. They offered to do us 'free' henna tattoos - as long as we bought something afterwards! It was all very amusing.
But as soon as you left one stall you were bombarded by the next ones in line who were all tying small bracelets to your wrist to make you go to their stall. Or another tactic was the 'pinkie promise' (you all know what that is don't you grandchildren?!) - to get you to agree to come back to their stall later. We didn't do any pinkie promises!
Our tents were set in a big courtyard and when we returned to them in the afternoon it looked as though the hotel was setting up for an outdoor wedding. We discovered that it wasn't for a wedding but for a function for the local retailers. Trestle tables and chairs were set up, a huge outdoor hot buffet was laid out and a large PA system was being assembled - but we had been assured that it would not go on past 6pm.
Some of us went to a cookery class with a very lovely local lady. The rest of the group went for a meal and we met them later - we ate our cooked meals at the class (although we didn't really do much except watch the lady cook!)
We kept seeing something scurrying across the floor - don't know if it was a mouse or a small lizard but as they are quite common nobody bothered about it. As we watched the demonstration we suddenly heard a shriek - and saw Andy leap into his chair with both feet off the ground! The little creature had shot across the floor and under his chair. Andy just cowered there for a few seconds until he dared to come down. We just laughed at him - shame that no one grabbed their camera - that would have been a good picture!!
Our cookery demonstrator was lovely - and her family was too and we had a great evening and came back enthusiastically making plans to cook lots of Indian dishes as she made it look so easy!
The children had given us flower garlands and marked our foreheads with a red dot - a lovely gesture!
So when we arrived back from our meal and cookery class at 9pm we were NOT HAPPY to find the function outside our tents still in full swing - and VERY LOUD!!
In particular Badam was not happy - so we all ended up with rooms in the main hotel - not good having to pack your bags at 10pm to the sound of very loud music - and also a bit intimidating for the single girls to have to make their way through all the hordes of men!
But it all worked out ok and I was happy as the room had a hairdryer and I could have at least half a hairstyle for a while! Woo hoo - result!
We packed up and got ready to leave for Orchha. Lorraine had been out shopping and had bought three bags for her children so we called her the bag lady!! (just meaning the lady who had bought the bags - sorry Lorraine!)
The journey was four hours and we had to take a detour because a bridge was broken. We ended up travelling across a field (someone's ploughed and very muddy field!!) in total chaos with everyone else - but we got to see some pretty villages that we would not have seen otherwise!
We were staying in 'luxury tents' for two nights so we were all quite excited! The attached hotel interior was quite luxurious so we had high expectations!...
What a disappointment - they may have been luxury twenty odd years ago but they were decidedly faded and jaded!! It was probably made worse by the fact that we arrived in fog and mist and it was quite chilly! We weren't used to this weather!
But we soon cheered up when the sun came out! And the tents were certainly in a beautiful location with temples on one side and the river on the other.
Gr M and I went for a walk down by the river - the scenery was absolutely beautiful!
In the evening we walked down to the temple to watch their evening ceremony which was quite interesting. Lots going on and lots of people - but no photos allowed.
We then went out for yet another meal (we have done lots of eating on this trip!!!) in a tiny ramshackle cafe/restaurant/bar which looked like a little nothing place but which had a lovely rooftop bit where we ate very well for not much at all!
It had a Trip Advisor sticker so I will be looking it up and giving it a review - it was called the Ram Raja.
Saturday 9 November
We were woken at 6am (dawn) by the boom, boom of massive fireworks from the nearby temple. We were literally on their doorstep.
It was very misty - I went for a quick look at the river but there wasn't much to see.
We went back to the Ram Raja for breakfast. Lorraine ordered hash browns - expecting, well - hash browns!... What she got was something very Indian!
We then went for a walk round the Royal Palace which was lovely. I saw a man sort of half following me through a couple of the rooms - he then came up to me and asked if he could touch my feet. I had seen Badam touch the toes of the owner of one of the hotels that we had stayed in - it is a mark of respect. So the man just touched both feet, thanked me and went! Not sure why he did it - maybe my age? maybe because I was white? - don't know.
Our group l-r: Kirsty, Rupert, Andy, Anne,Naomi, me, Robert, Mike, Debbie, Lorraine, Noel
Our group again - with Badam!...
Not so sure about these three wise monkeys!...
At various times during the trip we have attracted lots of attention - especially Debbie and Kirsty who are both blonde.
There were some interesting characters about!...
Later we went out on motorised tuk tuks to look at a factory which Intrepid supports - where paper is made from remnants of cotton fabric.
We then walked down to the market and had great fun with the young girls on the stalls. They offered to do us 'free' henna tattoos - as long as we bought something afterwards! It was all very amusing.
But as soon as you left one stall you were bombarded by the next ones in line who were all tying small bracelets to your wrist to make you go to their stall. Or another tactic was the 'pinkie promise' (you all know what that is don't you grandchildren?!) - to get you to agree to come back to their stall later. We didn't do any pinkie promises!
Our tents were set in a big courtyard and when we returned to them in the afternoon it looked as though the hotel was setting up for an outdoor wedding. We discovered that it wasn't for a wedding but for a function for the local retailers. Trestle tables and chairs were set up, a huge outdoor hot buffet was laid out and a large PA system was being assembled - but we had been assured that it would not go on past 6pm.
Some of us went to a cookery class with a very lovely local lady. The rest of the group went for a meal and we met them later - we ate our cooked meals at the class (although we didn't really do much except watch the lady cook!)
Our cookery demonstrator was lovely - and her family was too and we had a great evening and came back enthusiastically making plans to cook lots of Indian dishes as she made it look so easy!The children had given us flower garlands and marked our foreheads with a red dot - a lovely gesture!
So when we arrived back from our meal and cookery class at 9pm we were NOT HAPPY to find the function outside our tents still in full swing - and VERY LOUD!!
But it all worked out ok and I was happy as the room had a hairdryer and I could have at least half a hairstyle for a while! Woo hoo - result!
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