Farewell Orchha – Take Two, 7th May 2006

I didn’t sleep well last night, and even though I was knackered by the time I got to sleep I ended up waking up at about 06:30. At 07:00 I heard a little knock on my door and I then hear Rishi tell Angeli to stop knocking, well I presume that’s what he said as it was in Hindi and the knocking stopped. Well it stopped for about five minutes and I decided to get up as I’d told the kids that I’d be leaving early and they obviously wanted to see me before I went.

It was around that time that I decided to stay another day, as I don’t like riding on these roads if I’m not feeling 100%. When I told them, they were delighted; Rishi high fived me and Angeli held her arms in the air – the sign for me to throw her over my head. Rishi then told me that he would bring me to see some more temples and gods after ten when he has finished his homework. We then went to the temple we visited yesterday when my camera packed up and Rishi took some photos of the gods there, he’s really enjoying using the camera and is even getting a bit cocky using it. There were a couple of guys restoring / renovating some grilles and Rishi asked them if he could take a photo and they asked him for money (not an uncommon occurrence over here), so Rishi walked off. I then noticed him turn around and zoom in and take a photo, he ran over to me grinning like a Cheshire cat and was so proud of his paparazzi work, I told him that he shouldn’t take photos if people didn’t want them taken. I also told him that if he had just zoomed in on them in the first place they wouldn’t have refused! We went back to the guesthouse and I then tightened the chain and a few bit of pieces on Rishi's bike, as his chain kept on jumping off, but I couldn’t repair the missing spoke or buckled wheel.

I then went to Ram Raja restaurant, which is mine and Andys usual hangout, but the owner told me that he was in the Raj Mahal, so we must have just missed him. I hung around and had something to eat and Rishi went home because it was too hot for him. I got back to the hotel early in the afternoon and settled my bill (£46 GBP for 13 nights), that way I would have to leave the next day – well, unless I decided to pay and settle my bill again… Kumkum came to my room around 16:00 and asked me if I could take the photos of her, I said I would, so she went off to get changed. She came back in a Sari and asked me to take some photos of her in my room! I told her that it would be best if we took them outside, as it would be getting dark soon. I took the photos and then she went off and got changed into more casual gear and asked me to take some more. She then asked for my address, so I wrote it on the back of a photograph of a field of sunflowers I took near Chandigar. She loved the photo so I asked her to choose a couple more from some I’ve had developed. She then got her photo album and showed me loads of photos of her and told me to take one. I told her that I couldn’t as they were all so nice, so she is going to get one of the negatives printed and send it to me.

Rishi asked me to take some photos of his family, so I spent half an hour in the garden; I was armed with one camera and Rishi with the other. I said goodbye to the family and told them that maybe I’d see them in the morning before I left. I then went to Ram Raja restaurant to see if Andy was around. I got there and found him with Estelle, and as we were chatting the owner brought out a garland of flowers and a birthday cake for Estelle. He must have heard us over talking the night before as none of us mentioned it to him, it was a really nice gesture and Estelle was delighted. It was around this time that Rishi rode by (no handed) on his bicycle. I told him to sit down with us and have a cola, but he wouldn’t, as he’s a bit too polite. There was a big power cut just then and he didn’t want to cycle home in the dark in case he hit a cow or a dog. So he sat down and ate some of Estelle’s cake and joined in the conversation. It was then that I noticed that he had stopped saying “yes” and had shortened it to “yeah”, sh1t, no doubt that I’d be blamed for that! All night he kept on saying “yeah” and we had to tell him that it wasn’t proper English, even though the three of us kept saying it! I had promised the restaurant owner that I’d take photos of him and his family before I went and proceeded to once his wife got back from a wedding. My able assistant, Rishi, happily snapped away and we got some really good photos, which I’ve promised to give them when I’m back in town (or post if I’m not). I got back to the guesthouse early and was in bed by 23:00. Tomorrow I leave…