the town of spires

Raj Mahal
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I arrived by rickshaw around 4pm and checked out the room. It was fine and I got a TV as well. I had some chai with the owner and was glad to have somewhere to relax. After a while of chatting, I unpacked and decided to do some exercises in my room. I miss going to the gym. It's too hot to run and the road surfaces are so uneven and traffic comes at you from all directions, that I don't think it''s safe. The only thing I can do is yoga, stretching and aerobics in my room. I'm going to see if I can find a skipping rope. Anyway after the exercise, had a shower and ordered dinner in my room. Didn't want to talk to anyone and was tired, so just flicked the TV.

Raj Mahal
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The next morning I had brekkie and went for a walk round to explore. I wasn't in the main part of the town, but was only a 10 minute walk away. Unfortunately it wasn't quiet as I had hoped, as there is a mandir nearby and people live nearby, so the children and the singing woke me up. Ah well, India is busy and noisy.

I found the market and there was lots of hustle and bustle. It was nice walking round taking in the atmosphere. I walked over the river bridge and found the ticket office to view the monuments. The ticket gives you entrance for all of them and was very cheap. Near to the ticket office are 3 palaces - Jehangir, Raj &Raj Praveen. I entered the main gate and just wondered around. A few men offered to be my guide, but I was content just wondering around alone, taking my time. In the Raj Mahal I found the rooms with painted ceilings. They were great and the paintings were of battles and religion. Most of them are faded now, but in one of the rooms they're not that bad.

Jehangir Mahal
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After the Raj Mahal I went to Jehangir Mahal and went upto the 1st storey to see views of Orchha. This palace is built around an impressive courtyard. Behind this palace are camel stables, which I could see from the 1st floor. After spending some time taking pics I became hot and bothered and decided to go chill out back at the hotel. So I made my way back and asked for some chai. I settled down in front of the tv and the timing was great as a bollywood film was just about to start (Don), so I watched it.

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About 4 hours later, I was feeling ok and ventured out again to the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, which is away from the main town and about a 1km walk. It isnt used to say prayers as the main staute of the god inside got stolen. People just come to see it. There are also paintings on the celing here, but you can't see much of them. The mandir is quite a big building and can be seen from the main town as it is on a hill. I didn't go to the top as I wasn't too confident about tackling the steep steps. I just wandered round, looked at the paintings and headed back into town.

Raj Praveen
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I didn't do anything else in the evening. Just went back to the hotel, had dinner, watched TV and read ahead for Khajaraho. I booked a taxi for the next morning as the bus for Khajaraho leaves from Jhansi approx 18km away and I needed to get a ticket for the 11am bus.