Agra-Orchha; India

I briefly mentioned yesterday that I went to Agra Fort and Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal was stunning, and Agra Fort (built in 16th century) was extremely impressive with a rudimentary but effective air conditioning system, a hidden communication system and optical illusion views of Taj Mahal.... but I'm pretty sure this blog doesn't get hits for the cultural reviews, so I'll crack on with the stories.

Today we hopped on a train from Agra to Jhansi. Trains here run hours (not minutes) late, sometimes don't come at all, and I've been here long enough to not be concerned that a train moving isn't a valid reason not to try to get on or off it. As with most things in India, the spectrum of comfort was pretty wide. We travelled AC2 class (which would give East Midlands Trains a run for its money!), but the 3rd class carriages had bars on the windows instead of glass so a) there was some ventilation, and b) no-one falls out. The toilets, however, were awful. I get regularly mocked for wearing flip flops in any shower, but flip flops didn't cut it in this loo. The seat was sprayed with urine, which is grim but I've got thighs of steel from almost a week of squatting over toilets, and there was 'miscellaneous fluid' on the floor which made little waves and sloshed in your feet when the train turned a corner. 

From Jhansi we took a tuk tuk to Orchha, via a local paper factory. Darryl is a bit of a local pothole activist, and I can imagine him furiously scribbling in his yellow notebook that the majority of all roads need repairing if he were here! The driving was slightly safer than in Jaipur and Agra, and I didn't scream once. The paper factory employs locals and recycles cotton to make into good quality paper, and had a gift shop selling the finished products.

We're 'camping' in Orchha tonight but these aren't real tents at all (they have en suites)! The campsite is right next to ancient Hindu temples, and the view of these from my tent is beautiful. This evening I showered off other people's urine, visited a Hindu temple and watched a prayer ceremony, and fought off bugs. 

Pumped with confidence from today's train ride, tomorrow I'll be catching a sleeper train to Varanasi... wish me luck!