From Agra, Rolfe and I drove east just 40 km, for a brief visit to Fatehpur Sikri, a purpose-built capital city created and then deserted soon afterwards, due to lack of water, while still under the Moghul emperor, Akbar the Great. href="http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/rolfgibbs/archives/images/fourways.shtml"
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And then on the road south towards Orchha, we came upon the amazing fortified palace town of Datia, which, unbelievably, is not even mentioned in the Lonely Planet. It makes one wonder how many other such gems are hidden away in this enormous country? href="http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/rolfgibbs/archives/images/lakepalacewide.shtml"onclick="window.open('http://blogs.BootsnAll.com/rolfgibbs/archives/images/lakepalacewide.shtml','popup','width=568,height=426,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0');
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We headed on towards Orchha, a beautiful and unusually tranquil town full of palatial and temple ruins, and a deliciously fresh and clear river to swim in. It was such a pleasant place to rest for a couple of days, especially after the noisy agro of Agra. The buildings are gorgeous, but as Orchha lies so far off the beaten track, these monuments are largely open and unguarded. One can explore them freely, and clamber about where usually not allowed. View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image, View image,

Besides the Enfield, which is temperamental, to say the least, my iPod has been my most wonderful travel companion for the past 5 months. Together with the travel speakers, the pair make any guesthouse room into a musical home away from home, with 650 CD stored in its memory. In Orchha, the iPod died -- strangely, in exactly the same way as my last one did, while travelling in Africa. As long as Rolfe is here, we can use his iPod, but then there will be no more music for the last weeks of my trip. Bummer!

From Orchha, we rode eastwards towards Kajaraho, which has quite a selection of temples, but let's face it, the place would never had appeared on the map, if the temples weren't festoned with erotic (read: pornographic) carvings, which are very unusual in chastely religious India. Personally, I found the juxtaposition of pornographic imagery and religion to be quite titilating, and we also met some good people in town.
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