April 27, 2012

• Orcha wish your city was fun like me

  

  Leaving Behind the wonders of the Taj, we moved on to the significantly less wonderful Orcha. Falsely led to believe this city was worth a stopover (spoiler: it wasnt) by OnTheGo Tours Agent Ryan Newson (do not give this man business ever) and tricked by this horrible unhelpful lying travel agent in being stuck in this 2 hour city for 36 hours, we decided to make the most of it. Also, still sick and vomiting off camera.

  

  Orcha has three things to see, one of them being this palace. The whole city is a stopover on the way between khajuraho and varanasi. Seriously, Ryan Newson is a dick. Anonymous, get on that.

  

  I would love to tell you all the significance of the things you will be seeing, except I was busy being violently sick off camera and didnt pay attention to most of what the guide said. Dont worry, I will recover by the time we reach Varanasi next post

  

  Admittedly the royal palace was fun and appropriately “ruin”-y looking

  

  Kali-Ma! Temple of Doom pic, check!

  

  I really love the arched doorways of persian architecture

  

  We were given as long as we felt like to wander around and explore

  

  An entire deserted palace, all to ourselves

  

  The King of Orcha died trying to save a cow from a lion. Thats my orcha fact

  

  

  

  The Mughals certainly understood the concept of Grand

  

  Elephant Pol entrance

  

  Another Royal palace or some such…we took a dance break

  

  

  The seven incarnations of shiva

  

  Jahangir Mahal on River Betwa

  By this point about 1 week into the trip, we were starting to get a little templed out. So we decided to use our remaining 30 hours in Orcha to explore the town, an excursion Short Round referred to as “Poorism”

  

  Even at Midday, the streets were mostly deserted, the oppressive heat keeping everyone indoors in their stone and thatch houses

  

  Shave and A haircut would be about 2 bits at this barbershop

  

  Even the graffiti notes the heatwave…

  

  Ahh, a Market! Now this is more like it

  

  As the day began to wear down, more people showed up to haggle, play, and generally just hang out in the street. We picked up some trinkets here and there, not out of any real need or desire for souvenirs, but just for the sake of being out and about, interacting with the locals

  

  Yada yada yada, marketplace temple, etc etc, filled with 4 wasps nests when we went to investigate

  

  Those colorful piles are paints, not spices as we orignally thought. And a small child of about 6 years old managed to convince Miss Crystal to purchase some. She was quite the saleswoman, using every trick at her disposal bringing in her smaller sister, telling us what a good deal we were getting, offering a special price that she hadnt given the last tourists…and then she couldnt keep a straight face and laughed, because we were the only tourists she had seen all day. Miss Crystal rewarded her for her efforts, purchasing a small lotus flower filled with 6 paints. She was no more honest or savvy than any other merchant, but she was adorable and still learning her craft

  

  This sign is 100% True.

  

  Finally, the sun set on what felt like the longest day and a half ever, and finally recovered physically and mentally, we boarded an overnight sleeper train

  Next stop: Varanasi, Holiest city in India

  • 11:23 pm
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