Pat & Karen's Grand Adventure: Merry Christmas!

While Pat and I have not always done a lot of planning ahead when it comes to travelling, we did plan to be in Orchha on Christmas. I thought it would be good to be in one place (rather than being in transit on Dec. 24 or 25) and make it a bit special somehow. And when I read about Orchha, it seemed like it might just fit the bill. And it did. It's a pretty small town, with a population of about 8000, set on the Batwa River with several ruined palaces and temples from the 16th century. It manages to combine small town charm and tourism while minimizing hassle to tourists and pushy salespeople. People seem happy here! All the kids we meet say "Hello!" in their best English, eager to get a response. We've gotten huge smiles from locals and have been hassled only a few times to buy something.

But the best part has been our accommodation. We're staying at a homestay with a family of five, just outside the centre of town. So far, we have stayed at a few guesthouses which have been in cities and the host basically rents out a few rooms in their modern home. On the other hand, our homestay in Orchha is organized by a non-profit organization called Friends of Orchha. Their website explains it better than I can, but basically, they seek to provide lower income families with the opportunity to earn some extra money by hosting tourists thereby also providing the tourist with a unique opportunity to experience typical homelife in rural India. Win-win situation for everybody! Our homestay family lives in a traditional style home, with a few rooms surrounding a small centre courtyard, complete with a small fire pit for cooking, several small goats, and a couple cows in the yard. Our room is a good size and is actually separate from the house. We've eaten breakfast and dinner with them each day which has been really good- both the food itself and the experience of eating as many local Indians do: crosslegged on a mat on the floor, mostly eating using the chiapati as cutlery. Chiapati is like a small pita bread, always made fresh, served hot, and is eaten with everything- basically like the Indian equivalent of a Mexican tortilla. Ok, they also let us cheat, and they give us spoons to use too. The only downside has been that the family doesn't speak much English, so connecting with the family and learning about their everyday life feels a bit limited since Pat and I are not progressing with Hindi very swiftly. But a lot can be said for a few words in the other person's language, body language, and smiling!

On Christmas Eve, Pat and I enjoyed walking around the old castle ruins in the centre of the town. We had a delicious lunch of pasta and pizza at a local restaurant and Christmas Eve dinner with the homestay family, consisting of curried potatoes with beans and onions, with rice and chiapati. Not exactly what we'd have on Christmas Eve in Canada, but we enjoyed it, in good company. On Christmas Day, we rented bikes and zoomed around the nature reserve that just borders the town with another traveller, Marie, who was also staying in a homestay. Pat even had a refreshing Christmas dip in the river! That evening, Ashok, one of the organizers at Friends of Orchha had arranged for a Christmas party with all the homestay families (I think 5 or 6 in total) and the current guests. It was really fun: Pat and I brought the sweets, there were presents and noisemakers for all the kids, and we found a white and red hat to dress up one of the other travellers as Santa. After these festivities, Pat and I and a few of the other homestay guests (two Aussies, one Dane, one Brit, and another Vancouverite) had a few Christmas beers at one of the local restaurants. It was a very festive Christmas indeed, filled with all the right ingredients: good food, visiting with friends, and cute kids getting presents.

We were a bit sad to leave Orchha on Boxing Day (Jan. 26, for all you Yankees) but we felt like we stayed the right amount of time and were ready to see some new things. We caught what was supposed to be a 4 hour train ride to Khajuraho, which ended up being about 7 hours late... After catching up on some sleep, we explored what we came to Khajuraho to see: the UNESCO World Heritage Khajuraho Hindu Temples. These temples are known for their beautiful, intricate carvings and are about 1000 years old. They are also famous for another reason: to quote the Lonely Planet guide book's description of the temples, "two elements appear repeatedly - women and sex." I took some pictures, but hopefully not enough to make you feel uncomfortable reading this blog. Just remember, this is a World Heritage Site!

We hope your Christmas was enjoyable as our was. We were a bit sad to miss all our friends and family back in Vancouver and Canada but we'll be there with you next year!

Next blog: Varanasi, Bodh Gaya, Kolkata (Calcutta), and then on January 9th... Thailand!