Orchha

We take a taxi for the 100km from Khajuraho to Orchha. Due to the chance meeting with the manager in Khajuraho, we secured a room in the Madhya Pradesh state run Sheesh Mahal hotel. This is the most interesting hotel we’ve stayed at so far, being set in a portion of Jehangir Mahal palace. Our room is like an apartment in size, an improvement on the pokey spaces we’ve gotten used to.  

Orchha is famous for its fort, temples, tombs, and palaces. First stop was the Chaturbhuj temple. We paid a boy rs20 to guide us up the many steep stairways to get to the roof, which offers the best views over the town.

We decided to visit the nearby Laxminarayan Temple, famous for being the only temple in India Dedicated to Hindu Goddess Laxmi. It’s an airport security style shakedown before entering the temple – no bags, cameras, wallets, belts. We take it in turns as the bag minder wallah didn’t look entirely trustworthy. I didn’t get any pics inside, but this cute young cow posed outside the temple. 

After a weird vegetarian lunch (that contained chicken) at a state run restaurant, we move on to the main sites around the fort. We visit the impressive Jehangir Mahal palace. 

The palace is home to huge nesting vultures. 

 

Adding this one to the comedy-sign collection. 

We wanted to hire some bikes to visit the nearby nature reserve, but the rental guy went to pump up the tires and never came back. Probably a good thing as the nature trail is 12km and it was scorchio. Instead we opted to spend the afternoon exploring the ruins around the fort on foot. No walk into the wilderness is complete without having a bush clearing stick. 

After straying into a field full of bulls, we both get scared, I discard my adventure stick, and we walk back to the safety of the fort.