Man-dooooo

Lea and Steve are forced to pose in a school photo at a palace in Mandu
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We broke our Hindu pilgrimage at the Indian buddist town of Sanchi. Was refreshing to be back among the stupas and monasteries that we missed from Tibet. The town was quiet (quiet to the point where there were two "restaurants" to eat from).

Despite it's world heritage listing, the buddist monastery site was pretty small and not overly impressive. However, to seek out more adventure, we hired some bicycles and did a day trip out to some caves which had been carved into Hindu meditation chambers.

Do you Mandu too?

A stupa at Sanchi.
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From Sanchi, headed for the Mandu hills. Mandu was a lush, green, hilltop town, set along a giant ravine. It is littered with ruined mosques, temples and persian-stlye castles. We stayed in a nice (and surprisingly cheap) guesthouse set in nice lawns with a view over the canyon.

We took breakfasts on the lawns while watching the sun-rise over the ravine and spent a day cruising around the sites on a bike. The major sites, including a lakeside palace built to resemble a ship, were very impressive. Again, the only non-indian tourists in the whole town, we were continously asked for photos and autographs.

Our view from the shade of a mango tree at Sanchi. We sat and practiced a little buddist meditation to improve our karma!
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Getting out of Mandu proved a real mission, and after being stuck in a cesspool town called Indore for a few days, we managed to escape to Ahmedabad. While in Indore, we managed our first western meal - Pizza Hut. Due to cultural variations, we received 5-star, personalised waiting service at Pizza Hut, and were asked to ring a huge church-tower-style bell as we exited to notify the restaurant we enjoyed our meal!