Another early- morning wakeup call. This was for the long trip to Khajuraho. We arrived at the train station and boarded
the First Class section of the train, which wasn’t too bad- 5 seats across,
well-cushioned but with tray-tables that clearly hadn’t been cleaned. First class passengers were not spared the pleasure
of using squatty-potties. (At least they
didn’t cost 10 rupees, unlike the ones in the station.) The train was the Delhi-Bhopal Express but we
got off at Jhansi. The guide explained
that flying from Agra to Khajuraho was an uncertain proposition because the
Indian army, which had a large base at the Red Fort, controlled the airport and
occasionally didn’t permit the Delhi-Agra-Khajuraho flight to make its
scheduled stop in Agra. We weren’t
making the whole trip by train because of construction between Jhansi and
Khajuraho.
After lunch at Jhansi Hotel, we set out on the road- a very
mixed experience. Some sections were
level, well-paved and could have been somewhere in the Midwest- until we had to
slow down for an elephant. Other
sections were narrow and uneven, barely able to accommodate one lane although
traffic moved in both directions. We
finally arrived after 7 hours, including a detour to avoid road construction
and a stop for lunch. Fortunately the hotel,
the LaLit Temple View, was one of the nicest so far. We relaxed in the bar and then had a pleasant
dinner.
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