Goodbye Gurudwara

This morning we were awoken by the sound of drums and singing but this time not the school band, this was coming from the gurudwara.  We quickly got up and dressed to go and investigate.  There were 3 people playing instruments and a few people singing morning prayers.  We stayed for a while before heading for tea.  We had our morning bowl of tea and were also given huge bowls full of sweet Bundy and rusks.  With the sweet tea and super sweet Bundy, we were buzzing by the time we had finished.

We gave our room a quick clean and went to hand in our key and make a donation.   There is no charge for staying at the gurudwara or for the food, it is all by donation.

We then walked down through the fort and along to the train station.  We asked for a ticket to Jhansi but for reasons unknown, were sold a ticket to Orchha.  We are actually going to Orchha but there is only one train a day and that had already left!!

We checked with enquiries and were told the next train arriving at platform 1 was the one we needed.  It didn't stop for long so we jumped on the nearest carriage, which was a sleeper carriage.  Our ticket was for general class, which was right at the other end of the very long train.  We thought we'd try our luck by sitting in an empty seat.  The other occupants wanted to see our ticket and explained we were in the wrong carriage.  As our stop was the next stop (even though it was 1.5 hours away) they kindly let us join them and moved along so we both had a seat.

We arrived in Jhansi and headed for the bus station which was 4km away.  It was a very organised town with nice roads and lots of very big cars, not the usual Suzuki Maruti we have seen everywhere else in India.  We passed a huge prison and an army base.  We also saw a.pretty temple which we were told was a Jain temple and a marriage puja was  taking place and we were invited in to see.   There was a beautifully dressed bride and groom along with a number of women standing around a high table making offerings and prayers.   

A couple of people came over to talk to us and explained a little about Jainism. They told us the male devotees walked around entirely naked, never cut any of their hair, they just pulled it out and they only took one meal every 24 hours. 

We wandered on and further up the road we saw one of the first  signs of Christmas in India.

We found a nice cafe for lunch which, other than us, was occupied by all army personnel.

On to the bus station and the first few people said there was no bus to Orchha, we needed to take a taxi.  We knew this was not true and eventually found someone who pointed us in the right direction.  A bus was just leaving so we jumped on ..... literally, as it had started to moved!

The only seats on the bus were right at the back which made for a very bumpy ride, especially when we went over the biggest speed hump ever, at some speed!!

We arrived in Orchha in no time. The bus dropped us very near our accommodation.  We went and met our friend, his family and his 3 beautiful daughters.  We chatted and played with the girls (aged 4, 9 and 13).  We then headed out to see the sunset over the ancient chaatris (cenotaphs of an ancient king and other important people) whilst drinking chai and eating delicious noodles.

Once the sun had set our friend took us over the bridge for a beautiful view of the chaatris all lit up in the night sky.  We then headed over the bridge to the island which has been home to ancient citadel where the palace was.  Again this was beautifully lit up.  Part of the palace is now a high end hotel and we were allowed in to see the restaurant and drawing room, which still looked very grand.

We were then invited to join our friend and his 2 eldest in attending his niece's 18th birthday party. We walked to the other side of the small town.  We met various members of the family, ate cake, chappati and curry before being given a fantastic dance performance by a little boy of about 4!  We all then got up to join him, firstly  inside the house to music playing on the TV and then a drummer arrived and everyone took to the street and continued dancing.

Later we fell into bed.  What a day!