Lounging by the pool and fainting in a palace
Next day, back on the trains, in second class this time which was much better that first class in my opinion. No air con but all the windows were open and we got plenty of air when the train was moving. Plus things are a lot more interesting when you step down a class. We were sharing seats with locals and there was constant entertainment going on down the aisles. People selling chai and snacks and acrobatic children with spinning things on their heads (you really had to be there).
We hopped into tuk tuks at the station and arrived at the most amazing hotel. We thought we were just stopping for lunch but were all ecstatic when we found out we were staying. We’d been told we were staying in luxury tents but what I wasn’t expecting was that these tents were complete with bathroom, proper beds, tv, fridge and aircon! Mine also had a lizard living in it, which I thought was quite cool. All this set in beautiful gardens and the best bit of all? A pool!
After the intensity of Delhi and Agra we were all very happy to chill out by the pool for a while. Ended up drinking far too much whiskey and swimming in our underwear, after they’d closed the pool for the night – the manager even came and asked us to get out but in India it seems you can get away with whatever you like when you’re a paying customer. I learnt to count from 1 to 10 in Hindi – must remember to use alcohol for a useful technique in learning languages faster.
We spent the next couple of days exploring Orchha, which is really a beautiful village and very laid back for india. There are still kids begging but they looked a lot happier and better clothed than elsewhere and they were mostly just shouting “hello! Chocolate!”.
The first morning we took a guided tour of one of the palaces which was deserted apart from the monkeys prowling around the outer walls. Our guide took us into the bedroom of one of the kings wives and started talking about something but at this point my memories get a bit fuzzy. I remember feeling a bit sick and then everything getting slowly darker, then suddenly everyone was staring at me and I didn’t know why. Turns out I’d fainted – apparently it took ages for me to actually collapse and everyone was asking if I was ok but I was just staring into space and not responding (I didn’t remember any of this) oh and apparently my lips turned blue! So I was made to go and sit in the shade for a while and drink water. Remember to drink lots of water when you’re in India! You need at least 3 litres a day. Anyway for about an hour after I fainted I couldn’t see properly out of my right eye as everything was all swirly but I felt well enough to explore the rest of the palace (though i made sure to stay away from high drops without barriers).
That night I ate the best thali I had the entire trip for the shocking price of 60 rupees, marred only slightly by the power going off just after we’d sat down in the restaurant so that we had to shout over the noise of 2 backup generators for half an hour.
While in Orchha, we took a cooking class and learned how to make yummy masala chai and various kinds of curry. The food is just soooo good here, I’m not even that keen on Indian food at home but actual proper Indian food is in danger of pushing Thai off the top of my favourites! Swear my clothes are getting tighter with the amount I’ve been eating…
Also went to visit a small village near Orchha with lots of really cute kids. Rather than begging for money and sweets like most of the other children we’d met, they all just wanted their photo taken. They were so excited and happy and just chased after us laughing and screaming “hello, picture!”. We ended up having to be quite firm and say “no more photos!”. I’m really going to have to send copies of the pictures I took to the village when I can.
