Khajuraho

Khajuraho is a place that is recommended everywhere.. all the tour guides, internet.. everywhere... When people talk about Khajuraho they say it's beautiful and it is where the kamasutra temples are... in total there are about 22 temples, it used to be more but they got destroyed with time... hearing/reading all this, our expectations went up very quickly.. we booked three nights in Khajuraho hoping we could enjoy the city, the temples and relax.. 

Well... things were not exactly as expected... On our first day we had our breakfast at the hotel (chai and cookies + bananas offered by the hotel) and decided to go visit the main temples (western temples)... we were offered a sample ayurvetic massage from the guy from the hotel with the expectation of having us going for a full massage... it was nice... as soon as we step out of the hotel more or less ten guys (some kids included) approached us "come see my shop!", "tuk tuk", "Where are you from?!", "hablas Español?!"... sooo many questions... suddenly the kid that was on our tuk-tuk the night before showed up and explaining some history fatcs from khajuraho in a mix of Spanish and English. At first it was nice but at one point the kid wouldn't leave us alone... he invited us to his place, to the shop, etc etc etc.. until we decided to go to an early lunch to escape... after that, we went to the temples but kept being followed/approached by kids trying to speak english/Spanish always trying to pull you to their shops our houses... at night we realized that khajuraho is full of bugs but not mosquitos, black bugs that jump all the time but they don't bite...

On our first day, the hotel owner said that we would have a free dinner offered by the hotel... someone would pick us up and we would join them on some festivities.. we would eat with the families and it would be possible to conect to Khajuraho people... despite of having planned to rent the motorbikes on the second plan we were excited about the invitation, we were curious and a bit nervous... it would be really nice to connect and have a true Indian experience. The owner told us to be at the hotel between 4pm and 5pm so we changed our plans and decided to rent bycicles instead of the motorcycle.. we would do the motorcycle on our last day...
On our way to the bycicles we had the usual hassle... kids...kids....kids... it was becoming too much... we rented our bycicles and started exploring the temples that are outside of the city but the weather was reaaaaaaaally hot... we enjoyed the cycling but we were thinking about the dinner/party we were going to have at 4pm. We had a light lunch so that we were able to eat everything they offered us... we didn't want to be rude and when we are hungry food tastes better so we would be able to eat even if we didn't like that much... at 3pm we were at the hotel.. we would take some rest and be fully energized for the party... at 4:15 we left the room and the owner says "do you need something?!".. we were like... "I thought we had scheduled between 4 and 5pm..." the guy said to wait 40 min more and we went back to the room.. he said he would call us and there we waited.. Pedro thinking the offer could be just another scheme for business even came outside and talked to the owner trying to understand a bit more about the event.. we waited... waited... waited.. and at 6:30 we decided it was enough.. we had replaned our full day because of the event... we were planning to rent the motorbikes and we ended up loosing almost the entire day waiting in the room... When we left the room, planning to have dinner in a random restaurant one guy asks at what time do we want our free dinner... seriously.. something wasn't right.. we don't want any free dinner or free nothing.. we left the hotel and more kids after us.. we were getting really tired of the hassle with Khajuraho people.. we were even saying that we wanted to leave.. 2 days were enough... we arrived at the restaurant and at least that was a good expirence.. we ate probably the best food so far.. it was really tasty.. it almost made us forget the bad energies from the day...

On our third day we didn't have a lot of enthusiasm.. we had to check out from the hotel at noon and our train was only at 11:40pm.. we couldn't even think about the possibility of walking around Khajuraho... we would probably end up hitting someone... we woke up and prepared our bags for the check out really slowly.. we would have lunch in the same restaurant and after we would tent the motorbikes for the rest of the day.. it ended up being the best day in Khajuraho... we got out of the city and explore isolated villages next to the moutains, we had kids smiling at us and saying hi all the time... we saw buffalos bathing themselves in small ponds... huge lizards crossing the road... we we were seeing genuine people.. not the same type we were in Khajuraho... we stopped by the entrance of the waterfalls and rested from the bike ride and one man even offered us necklaces... what a different experience it was... for the sunset we went to one temple and ended up having a great conversation with some locals about India and places to visit... we couldn't believe how different the day was...

We are now waiting to go for dinner and on another train adventure...

The temples of Khajuraho are beautiful but at the end, it is probably the first place in India we don't want to come back.. maybe it is not good to have expectation... you are always surprised...

Recommended:
Agrawal restaurant - a tiny little restaurant in the main street with great Indian food and very good price. We went there three times...