Datia

Sunday, 19 March 2017

There’s not much to write about on a day that includes a 7 hour drive!

We are on our way to Khajuraho to see a set of temples famous (infamous?) for their erotic images. To get there we flew into Gwalior, which has only three flights a week -- all from Mumbai. And it’s Air India (our least-favorite Indian airline), a turbo-prop (slow), and two hours late. The extra hour or two would have been better appreciated as more sleep and breakfast! But, of course, we didn’t know until we got to the airport that our flight was delayed. We also found out that Air India and Jet Airways now operate their domestic flights out of the new international terminal in Mumbai. International and domestic flights use the same gates, but are on separate floors. Since most international flights are at night (typically 9 PM to 5 AM), and most domestic flights are daytime, this works out well. So at least we got to wait in a clean, pleasant, ultra-modern airport.

From Gwalior it’s a long drive to Khajuraho. All told, we didn’t arrive until long after dark.

From our pit stop in Datia, about a third of the way to Khajuraho:

Raja Bir Deo Palace in Datia.

“Flame of the Forest” trees were blooming all over India during our trip. (I think this is Butea monosperma, but my India tree book is at home.)

As soon as I pulled out my camera, these boys insisted that I take their picture and show it to them.

As it turns out, there are a number of interesting things to see between Gwalior and Khajuraho. We should have added a day to visit Sonagiri, Jhansi, and Orchha. (Gotta leave something for next time!)