Greetings friends, hope you are all well. I haven't blogged for a while due to being so busy with activities, shopping, eating and a little drinking. I'll try and get you all up to date in this blog, so maybe a big one but will just try and summarise rather than be my normal babbling self. I finished my last blog saying that we had a lovely 13 hour drive to our next stop. Destination was a lodge on the Ken River unsurprisingly named 'Ken river lodge' this was situated 10mins from khajuraho , which we would be visiting the next day and hosts Erotic temples. We arrived at Ken lodge at around 8ish, it had been a long day. The scenery had become more green and it seemed like we were in the English country side at times, i think this was India's equivalent, was a nice change from beeping horns, bikes, cars, smog, filth and dirt. We had a buffet dinner which was very welcomed. This was our first camping night in a tent, we could have upgraded if we liked to a lodge but at our own cost, some chose to do so but most pitched a tent and roughed it. Woke 5am the next morning, didn't sleep well at all, not surprising as i had no pillow or sleeping bag as this seemed to have been stolen on one of the 3 flights for GOA to Kathmandu, still it was a warm night. One toilet and shower between all the campers meant bit of a queue, of course being up at 5am meant i had first dibs. We packed up the tent gear as this was only a one night stay over. the plan was to visit the temples in khajuraho in the morning then head for Orcha which would be a bush camp night, meaning we camp were we can find with no facilities at all. However 'Josh' had other idea's for us and what happened next would change our itinerary and transport for the rest of the trip. As we left Ken Lodge for the Erotic temples 20mins into the journey the Trucks engine suddenly starting racing like Paul had taken it out of gear and then pushed the accelerator to floor and left it there, black smoke bellowed from Josh's exhaust, no one said a word, the windows were open and black smoke poured in the truck, after 30secs which actually is pretty long the engine is still racing away, we were at a stand still and finally some one shouts lets get off the truck, we get off and the engine suddenly stops racing and dies. To cut a long story short it would turn out that oil had leaked were it shouldn't and for my leg of this trip (some of the guys carry on to other places after i leave at Delhi) I wouldn't see 'josh' the truck again, very disappointing as the whole Overlanding experience is a lot to do with the Trucks they use. So the day was off to a bad start, however Jodie was straight onto it, and i will say now that Paul and Jodie have been amazing the whole trip especially at the loss of the truck with still a week left (for me anyway, Truck should be back in Mumbai for the guys carrying on) they were calm, professional and worked really hard to get us sorted with various things. So 1st thing was to get us 10KM down the road to the temples, Jodie had arranged with the guy at Ken Lodge to get us there in 2 Jeeps, so after only waiting for only around 30mins on the side of the road in sweltering heat we were on the way to the Erotic temples. We arrived in khajuraho and even before we were out the Jeeps we were swamped by Hawkers, obviously this was a popular tourist destination. Fighting off the hawkers we met our local guide, the temples were beautifully made, with carvings of sexual acts, homosexuality, bestiality edged all round the outside, from top to bottom. The guided tour was very good but again it was hot, hot, hot and as always humidity was in the 80-90's all day. We finished the tour and found someone to have lunch, Jodie advised us that we were going to be staying at Ken Lodge another night due to the problems with Josh, again upgrades were offered and this time i took one with Joe, Caroline and Kate also took one, which worked out well for all in case we wanted to do some room swapping ;o). Afternoon was spent chilling at the Lodge, having a couple of beers and reading. The lodge rooms were amazing, any wonder they cost quite a bit to upgrade, however well worth it, real authentic lodges, wood beams and a roof terrace. The main lodge section where we ate was on stilts so to speak, and overlooked the Ken River, we all watched Sunset, got some great photo's and chatted it was pretty cool, we ate and then had a few drinks, of course it was the party gang who up till the end, nothing unusual about that. We carried on the party back our own lodge with a few more drinks, it maybe a good time to tell you that Caroline and I had become close, and of course you know about Joe and Kate, so you can see how the room situation works well when i share with Joe ;o).
With the extra night in Ken Lodge, Orcha and bush camping wasn't possible as Josh had all the camping stored in him, this meant a long day straight to Agra, again it would be a 13hr epic journey. I must admit though this was probably the most uncomfortable 13hrs of my life it went pretty quick. 2 Seven seater minivans and when i say mini, i mean mini. In our van was Warren, The Estonians, Jodie riding shotgun and the party gang. The Estonia's on the back seat with Warren and then the 4 of us in the boot, when i say boot, it had a seat facing inwards on each side, myself and Caroline on one and Joe and Kate on the other, it was cramped to say the least, sardines in a tin again spring to mind. It was less than ideal but at short notice and Jodie wanting to stick to the itinerary it was the best that could be done, the only salvation was A/C. We stopped at town after 6 or so hours, it was pretty small and we were just picking up snacks and drinks, however it would seem the town have never seen westerners and we were mobbed, staring taking pictures of us, of course by now we were used to this but even now still hard to get used to people surrounding you and staring, not saying a word.We arrived in Agra at 9pm,thankfully the hotel was good, nice rooms and 24hr restaurant, we had dinner which was really good. Wifi was free and good speed connection, i at last managed to skype a few people. We had a free morning which meant after the long cramped, tiring drive we could stretch out and have a lie in.
I said i would write one big blog and bring you up to date, I am currently writing this from our new bus, which is a proper bus and plenty of space with AC, its still not Josh though :o(. We are travelling to Delhi, which is were i get off, though i do have a few days in Delhi on my own before flying to Singapore, i think I'll have a few days to tell you about Agra and also Jaipur which was also cool. Hope everyone is good and well. Stay Safe.
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