Orchha is a gem of a place for anyone who loves historical buildings, especially if you prefer them looking authentic, pre-restoration. Its Sheesh Mahal is a large palace to the north of the town that has commanding views over the lush, green surrounding countryside. The upper domes of the palace are home to vultures that … Read more
Orchha market was a lot more smaller than most other markets we’ve been too but that’s no surprise as this town is home to only a few thousand. It’s the first quiet market I’ve ever come across which made it a lovely experience. Amy wanted to buy some henna-style printing blocks and some coloured powder … Read more
We’ve stayed in a couple of Madhya Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation’s hotels in our time in the state. We had very nice experiences of both so I’d thought I’d put up a little info about them. It seems that MPTDC sets a stand tariff for their hotels and a standard A/C double room is Rs1990 … Read more
Last night’s train journey, at 15 hours and 600 miles, was the longest one in our plan and if we didn’t catch it we’d have a problem on our hands, so being cautious I’d booked a backup train. To minimise cancellation costs I needed to cancel the backup train before we caught the planned one. … Read more
Well it was inevitable, the monsoon would get us eventually, although as we were travelling by car from Gwalior to Orchha it didn’t affect us much, just slowed the journey right down and it was slow enough to start with. We’ve had thunder and lightning pretty much every day, twice a day at least whilst … Read more
Here’s a couple of short videos from our stay at the homestay in Orchha. scroll down… This first one is the breakfast served at Malti’s house: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pplpDsSP6ws This second one is some footage of the kids playing and having fun in Ganj, the little village near Orchha where all … Read more
The room the owners of my homestay live in is no bigger than the room Emilia and I are occupying, yet we’ve only got a couple of rucksacks filling the space, although in typical Winchcombe fashion everything’s scattered to fill the void well. We’ve got beds, we’ve got mosquito nets, we’ve got electrical sockets, a … Read more
In a corner of the room, right next to the doorway, sat Malti, the wife of the family that Emilia and I were staying with. She was stirring some steaming potato curry in a pot which was resting over a fire powered by a single main log. The log didn’t fully fit … Read more
Perhaps the most intrepid part of our trip – apart from travelling on trains for 2500 miles in the worst season possible – was our planned stay with two local families in the sleepy riverside town of Orchha. The idea for a homestay was sewn early on, when the original plan was to go to … Read more
Today we were picked in Gwalior by a young taxi driver named Amir sent by the owners of the homestay organisation, Friends Of Orchha. A homestay is where you stay with a local family, often using a spare room of theirs or one they build purposely. Daddy found this place on the Internet and found … Read more