That's a Little Naughty

Who knew that holy ancient temples could be so exciting?  We found out just how exciting it could be to go "temple hopping" in the small town of Khajuraho.  We had almost decided to skip this stop because it's quite a bit out of the way when going from Agra to Varanasi but we are really glad we made it.  First of all, the people here were the friendliest we've encountered so far.  There is a definitely small town vibe and it was the first time we had conversations with "real" people.  Also, it was the first time we were helped without the person expecting anything in return.  Alex lost the bottoms of one of her 2 pairs of zip-off pants.  (Alex: When I realized the bottom parts weren't in my bag I realized they must have fallen out on the bus.  It was 10:30 pm but when I asked the hotel manager if the bus would still be there he offered to drive me on his motorbike.  We went, he woke up the driver, and looked around but didn't see them.  Even though I was upset about being reduced to one pair of pants I was also so grateful for his help.)

The thing Khajuraho is really known for, however, are the erotic and artistic sculptures carved onto its ancient temples dating to the 10th and 11th century.  They apparently really liked the Kama Sutra as the sometimes one-meter high sculptures explicitly show.  Some of them also seemed to branch out to include horses in their love.  Obviously, there is some snickering as people move around the temples and spy these carvings.  (Especially considering the sexually conservative nature of the culture otherwise.)  But on a more serious note, the carvings are also exceedingly well done.  The bodies show a lot of movement (especially of the buxom women) and you can see some muscle and roundness in their flesh and expressions on their faces.  The grounds were very well kept so we really enjoyed a peaceful few hours among the main group of 10 temples.