WARNING: this post contains pictures of ‘sexy’ sculptures. Parental Supervision required
The main reason that Khajuraho is on the tourist radar is due to a large amount of, er, sexy sculptures on the temples in this area. Seriously, they’re filthy! The temples themselves are Medieval and Jain temples and are considered one of the ‘Seven Wonders’ of India. The whole area around Khajuraho used to be enclosed by a wall. There was originally over 80 Hindu temples, but now only 25 stand in an area of about 20 square kilometers and they serve as fine examples of Indian architectural styles. They have gained popularity due to their explicit depiction of sexual life during medieval times.
According to what I have read, the locals living in the Khajuraho village always knew about the temples and had looked after them, but the temples didn’t become famous until they were pointed out to an Englishman in late 19th century, by this point the jungle had taken a toll on all the monuments and some of them had become nothing more than ruins.
The temples are grouped into three geographical divisions: western, eastern and southern. The Eastern and Southern temples are fairly spaced out and I needed an auto-rickshaw in order to effectively visit them in an afternoon. The Western temples are enclosed within a fence and you have to buy a ticket to visit them.
I enjoyed looking at all of the temples, but was reduced to my former giggly, immature, teenage state when I found the ‘famous’ erotic carvings…
After visiting the temples I was tired and went back to the hotel in order to chill. I ended up spending the rest of the evening sat in the hotel restaurant talking to various other backpackers… and I have now had a slight route change…Instead of going into Nepal and just carrying on with the sightseeing I have decided that I will go and try some trekking!
The people in the restaurant had all done some trekking recently and said that it isn’t as hard as it looks, basically you can buy anything that you need in the shops in Kathmandu or Pokhara and if you don’t want to do that you can even hire things.
I am looking at doing the ‘Annapurna Circuit’ which takes around 12-19 days depending how far you take it. Nowadays you can take a bus from a lot of the places along the route, so it’s not as hardcore as it used to be. I think that I should just go for it!
It seems like the costs are fairly minimal as I am planning to go independent of an organised group. You pay for the TIMS card (Trekkers Information Management System) and the permits for any areas that you will go into. Other than this you pay for food in the tea-house or hostel each night and most of the time they will give you a discount or let you sleep for free! The routes are very well trodden and there will be lots of people this time of year. You can buy a map and book to accompany any trek that you do, so it’s not like you’re just wandering aimlessly. Also the route that I want to take goes through a lot of villages and areas frequented by people…so I should meet a lot of other trekkers and villagers 🙂
I’m getting rather excited now…just need to knit myself a hat I think…
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