Erotic Temples of Khajaraho

Day 17 (1/17)

2:15am I am thankfully, but rudely awakened by a gurgling in my tummy that had me instantly searching for my toilet paper knowing the train's toilet would have none. Being completely out of it with this sudden sense of urgency I am forced out of my top bunk fumbling for my shoes as I quickly make my way to the bathroom hoping it is vacant. I know it "could always be worse" although in that moment I didn't believe it could. My gratitude for the strength my yoga practice has given me continues to show up…in very unexpected places! Not only was I able to stay with my breath, allowing the hair of my nose to filter the toxic air in one of the worst restrooms I have encountered yet, but i was also able to somehow hover above the dirty toilet on the quickly moving train as I experienced the most terrible diarrhea I have ever had. 

With only 3 hours of sleep I was up and down 3 times scrambling back and forth praying for Khajaraho to arrive sooner than later. Feeling as though it would never end I decided to take some Imodium and hope that would get me through to the hotel. I laid down once again to try and get some rest when I was suddenly awoken by my sweet Korean friend~"Susie! Susie! It is time to wake up! We are almost there, you have to get up!" He was so cute and sweet it was impossible for me to express my frustration with being awoken after I had just finally dozed off. Feeling very weak and faint I peeled myself up and gathered the few things I had unpacked to make my bed more comfortable and patiently awaited the arrival of the station. Of course the train was behind on time and I began to wonder if the tuk tuk driver would still be waiting for us and how long I would have to manage before we would reach the hotel. I believe we arrived close to an hour late but thankfully our very energetic driver was there to meet us at the gate:) He was a young man dressed in jeans and a thermal wearing tennis shoes and kindly showed us to his auto rickshaw. The ride was very bumpy, with all of the dirt roads needing major repairs, I was trying to listen to the sound of my breath to stay calm until I was within reach of toilet. We finally made it to our room and again I was running to the bathroom not understanding how there could possibly be anything left in my system to release! Feeling so nauseas and weak, I changed out of my dirty train clothes and laid down to get some sleep. Im pretty sure I passed out almost as soon as my head hit the pillow and slept until about 9am.

 Khajaraho is known as the place where the Kama Sutras were discovered and  our driver from the train station would be showing us to the Western Temples that display these erotic acts at 930 where we would be left to explore on our own. Even though I felt worse than I had in a very long time, I pretty much forced myself to keep going, knowing we only had one day here I was not going to miss out on these erotic temples. In hopes of settling my tummy I got a Sprite and a banana, and then we were somehow swept into a shop for some green tea. As we sat down I began to have flashbacks of New Delhi and the man selling the rugs and refused to get up and look around. Finally we all finished our tea and we walked over to the first group of temples. We opted to get the audio earphones that would explain all of the amazing details carved into the stone. I found the audio guide to be very interesting but it was very hard for me to stay focused on it because I was so sick. But I continued to push myself on. I tried to make the best of it, but I assure you it was a major struggle, the beauty of it all is really what kept me going. It was just so amazing to me, how these temples that had been built so very long ago could still hold so much power. I couldn't stop staring at the architecture and attention paid to detail. I really wish I could have spent more time in a healthy condition exploring the temples and listening to all the stories behind the mind-blowing ancient art. It seemed to me there was so much to learn…about not only all of these erotic acts happening in the carvings, but also about the Gods and Goddess that were found amongst the many different expressions of beings. I suppose this gives me a good reason to visit again! After quite some time I was spent and ready to throw in the towel for awhile. I needed to rest my body and try to eat some food. We found a nice spot on the grass and I ate another banana and then laid down under the warm sunshine feeling the cool breeze as i drifted off to sleep. I have no idea how long we laid there but it was exactly what I needed. My stomach was still not good but I felt a little refreshed after resting and we headed to eat some lunch which was pretty much impossible for me to do. I drank a lassie and tried to eat some noodles but was having to gag them down so I soon gave up. At this point I should have went back to my bed and slept some more but I insisted on seeing the other temples that were scattered around town. Unfortunately they were all about the same, or so it seemed to me in my hazy mind. Looking back on it, I would have been satisfied with just seeing the first set, and should have been listening to my body. Lesson learned.

ooooh lala!

Dancing Ganesh!

There's a lot going on here!

So cool.

Inside...

Shiva's lingam:)

Namaste!

I absolutely love the decorated feet of Indian woman:)

It was also some time around now that the battery in my camera died and I hadn't even thought about charging the back up in all the madness of this unexpected illness. So I am very sorry to say that I do not have any pictures of the beautiful village that our guide/tuk tuk driver walked us through next. This was the village that he lived in, grew up in. This was the first place in India that we had seen that was not covered in trash. It was so clean, and peaceful, the way I had imagined a village to be. He shared many stories and the different ways of the village. There were many children running around that were all very excited to see us. One boy shyly asked me if I had a pen…at first I didn't think I heard him clearly but I did…all he wanted was a pen, for school. I couldn't resist and without even a second thought I handed him the only pen I had in my bag with the request that he share it with his brother. They were both so grateful and received it with giant smiles and an excitement that sent chills through my body. This is something that really stuck with me as I think about all of the things that children (including myself) actually cry for until they get. We also got to tour the school, which was really neat to see. It was so simple. Cushions on the floor, no desks, and some of the classrooms even had chalkboards:) Phon (our guide) then invited us into his home and up to the rooftop for some chai he made for us in his kitchen. It was lovely to get a view from up above as the sun began to set. While he was doing a few things around the house we sat on his couch, which was on the front porch and he shared some pictures of his with us before we left to see a traditional dance put on by some of the locals. The dance was so very cool…its hard to find the words to explain it and again…no pictures:( The costumes were so beautiful, men and women alike, the music also captured my attention with the live drums on the side of the stage. All of the performers stayed with the rhythm of the music and seemed to tell a story through their movements and expressions. At one point the women were dancing while balancing large water jugs on their heads, while at another time the men built amazing pyramids out of their bodies and did crazy flips and tricks. By the end of it all I was happy to have seen it but was so ready for bed! Phon agreed to take us to the station in the morning to catch our train to Agra, we thanked him for such a beautiful day and the best tour we had so far and said goodnight.