Jess Williams continues her blog series on India, travelling from Bodhgaya to the temples of Khajuraho, and on to Shimla, the old summer capital of the British Empire in India.
The next stop on our Great Indian Voyage was to Bohdgaya for all of a day. It’s not a big town but full of tourists and touts. However, there is a certain calm amidst it all. I guess that comes with Buddism, the serene stone face of the giant statue of Buddha (where we met a Burmese priest who was very excited to have his photo taken with us), and the sound of prayer wheels at the temple. This temple is the place where Buddha achieved enlightenment- I spent my time watching the fish. We’re on a similar level I think.
We were lucky enough to meet a young Nepali man who was visiting an orphanage he had helped set up. Mikku took us to meet the children of Elizabeth Children’s Home that evening. We were greeted by handshakes and a song. These kids have been taken in from the street and given an education and I felt very lucky to meet them. Mikku and his colleagues do such great work. To put it in the most clichéd way possible, I was humbled.
The next day was another train journey to another small town. The temples in Khajuraho don’t have the calming effect of Bohdgaya though. Quite the reverse. In fact, when the Victorian British discovered them, they were horrified by the outrageousness of the carvings. Because this is the land of the Kama Sutra, and the temples are covered with beautiful women, terrifying gods and frankly bewilderingly gymnastic erotic scenes. Some of the couples portrayed needed a couple of assistants to help them with the postures! My favourite is of a grinning elephant sneaking a look at some lovers. Cheeky. I highly recommend the audio tour: it gives you freedom to wander at your own pace (ours was three hours- lots to see) but points stuff out that you might otherwise miss amongst the mass of stonework.
I would not recommend talking for too long to any precious stone merchants. Travel guides warn you not to buy gems from probably conmen, but we came up against another scheme. They would post the diamonds to us in UK, and we would give them back to the boss when he was next in London. We paid nothing apparently. They avoid custom taxes and limits. But you know when you get a dodgy feeling about people, quite apart from it being almost definitely illegal. And they would not leave us alone. Khajuraho is a small town so just visit for a day or two. See the temples, move on. As it was, we re-organised our travel to leave early and quickly. If you meet a man called Bablu there avoid him. And don’t let him touch your hair. Awkward.
Our next port of call was unplanned and quite a journey. A flight and a bus and we were in Shimla, the old summer capital of the British Empire in India. The town is pretty. There is are a couple of churches, a tiny theatre (The Gaiety), a skating rink and lots of army buildings. We weren’t there to visit mini England though. We were there for the motorbiking.
Some friends of ours were doing a motorbike tour of the north. Hearing our damsels in distress story of Khajuraho they told us to meet them so they could tell us to be tougher, buy us nice meals and be our personal tour guides of the mountains. We bought some helmets and were transformed into biker chicks.
I’d never ridden on the back of a motorbike before, and considering I can’t drive and am at best a tentative cyclist, I now want to do my own motorbike tour. You just speed along, wind…against your helmet, and the mountains soar above and around you. You fly.
You also get off the beaten path. Shimla was nice enough but it didn’t blow me away as a town. Not least because it was the only time in 3 months that I saw rain (told you it was a mini England!). But just to see some of the countryside was spectacular. It’s also nice to drink chai in a tiny town that the train doesn’t go to, to see how life is away from the tourist trail.
Be careful on the bikes though. Indian drivers are just a little haphazard. Technically they drive on the left. In reality they drive all over the place, and quite fast. I suspect lorries drivers play “a hundred points if you hit a biker” game. Good job the boys were looking after us.
A few days later we waved them goodbye with wet cheeks (it was still raining) and went our separate ways.
Browse our range of India Travel Guide and Maps>
Do you have any more information about Elizabeth’s Children’s Home? I met two boys in Bodhgaya (but didn’t see the orphanage itself) and they are asking if I can send any money. I am wondering more about the history of the orphanage and how it started.
Thank you!