Another overnight train saw us to Khajuraho, a small relatively isolated town in Madhya Pradesh. Khajuraho is known for its Hindu and Jain temples constructed between 950 and 1050. Although the temples from a distance are impressive, the most striking thing about them is the exceedingly detailed stonework around the outsides. Gods, goddesses, elephants, dragons and other mythical creatures all come to life in the wonderfully embellished carvings depicting life at that time and values considered important in Hinduism. What Khajuraho is known best for however, are its very erotic sculptures. Interestingly, although they only make up a small percentage of the carvings, they seemed to capture the largest audiences at all the temples. It was fascinating to see how people of all ages got caught up in the hype of the uninhibited illustrations. Those included, an 80-90 year old with a stick, stopping at all the most out-there carvings and photographing them with a large smile on his face, and a man who I heard openly declaring that he loved sex with resounding conviction to a complete stranger. The two most impressive sculptures to us were a boar and a bull. Both are about 1.5m long, carved from hard sandstone. The boar is and incarnation of the Hindu god, Vishnu and the bull is the ridden by the Hindu god, Shiva.They are adorned with amazing intricate details, especially around the head and feet. It would be fair to say that that both real and unreal, animals seem to consistently get us elated. We must have chosen the right career after all.

In the afternoon we had time to explore more of Khajuraho village, which really only left us feeling sick of being hassled, and disillusioned with the ‘friendly’ locals. We've found almost always, if you think someone is being genuine and not trying to make as many dollars from you as they can, you need to wake up. They're just better at it than you're giving them credit for. Maybe we've found this challenging because giving people the benefit of the doubt is so innate to kiwis. It certainly takes a while to get used to it. On our way to catch the train in the morning, our auto rickshaw driver must have been able to read our minds. He stopped on the side of the road, got the three of us a chai, and started talking about the dollar focused generation around Khajuraho. Though he was passionately talking about his own village, he could have been talking about anywhere tourists frequent In India. We got a good vibe from him when we caught a ride with him into town the day before, so had arranged for him to drop us back at the station. He was older than the average driver, and it turned out he was also a crop farmer. Maybe it was his upbringing and disposition that made him distinctly different, or maybe it was a lack of reliance. I suspect both. We enjoyed his company and perspective, and they definitely came at a fitting time.