Orchha 26th April 2006

I had the most relaxing day I’ve had in India. EVER. I went down to the river this morning at about 10:00, armed with a very cold bottle of water and Q magazine.

The riverbank here is amazing. No other word can describe it. During the monsoon season the river overtakes the town (so I’m told), but at the moment most of the riverbed is exposed. I scrambled over the exposed boulders and rocks and settled under a tree, the tree had ariel roots (presumably the monsoon rains had washed away the soil) and was in the shade. I had a blissful hour to myself (a rarity in India) before I was interrupted, but that’s not interrupted in the Indian sense of the word. Some guy came and sat beside me. He didn’t say anything, he just sat there and kept himself to himself. After about five minutes he got up, stripped naked (in front of me) and went for a swim, when he came back he put on his clothes (thank God / Buddha / Vishnu) and then lit up a joint. All the time he kept his own counsel and he then got up and wandered off. I then had an Indian family come up to me, they said “Namaste” and continued up the riverbank.

Before I knew it, it was 16:00 and seeing as though I hadn’t eaten for nearly twenty-four hours, I thought I’d better have something to eat. I ended up at a place down by the river which was recommended to me by the chef of the place (well, he would recommend it wouldn't he), which I probably would have found anyway in this small town of 5000 people (which is tiny by Indian standards).