Indian Sex Education

Our Palace in Orchha

After the Light and Sound show we had dinner and went to bed. I awoke about 4am with a terrible case of Delhi Belly. In all of the previous times visiting India I have never gotten sick. This made up for it. I couldn’t figure out what of me to use first with the toilet.

Eventually things tapered off and I took anti-biotics and other prescriptions that we have previously carried but not needed to use. I was faced with multiple decisions. We were scheduled to actually visit the Temples at Khajuraho, in the morning and later that day drive to Orchha to see more Temples. I wasn’t sure if I was up to climbing around Temples and I definitely wanted to be near a toilet.

All I drank was bottled water, and I decided to risk going to the Temple Complex. There are numerous Temples, all built by a long deceased empire – The Chandelas a warrior dynasty between the 9^th and 11^th century. After the Taj Mahal this is the 2^nd most visited historical place in India. Sex sells. The Temples were abandoned and the Jungle and forests reclaimed them, hiding and preserving them from plunder. In the 1800 during the Raj they were found by the British and restoration began.

They are most famous, of course, for the 1000’s of erotic carvings, showing every possibility of sex. The guide, insists they aren’t sexually provocative but were there to show the beauty of creation. I observed that in lots of these sculptures, creation was the object but carnal lust. No matter, these ancient people were obviously enjoying themselves.

My body still ached from the Delhi Belly, but I decided we attempt the 4 hour drive to Orchha. This area of India has very bad roads, two lanes one in each direction, that are slightly narrower than a bus or truck. So when two vehicles approach each other, one usually has to drive off to the dirt on the side of the road. Motorcycles, elephants and rickety busses are also everywhere. It is a poor area, mainly agriculture: Mustard oil fields in bright yellow. In many Bollywood movies have a classic scene of the hero and heroine dancing thru these fields. I had visions of needing to squat in a field somewhere along the way, but luckily we made it to our Palace in Orchha without incident. Our incredible driver Vijay has informed us that the ride from Orchha to our next destination is even worse. It is hard to imagine how bad the road is going to be.

Just after we checked in, it was back to me to the bathroom. We decided to have the Hotel call their doctor on call, and 20 minutes later he arrived. This was an easy case for him to diagnose and treat. I assume Delhi Belly is one of the most common of all ailments of foreigners. They have the treatment down pat. First of all he told me to stop using the American prescriptions our doctors have given us. He replaced them with Indian Prescriptions. He explained my aching was from an electrolyte imbalance and gave me electrolyte powder to mix with water and take. Bottom line he patched me up and I am feeling well. For house call to the hotel, the prescriptions and treatment, the Doctor charged me 1500 Rupees, less than $ 30. Try to get a house call in America! I will never know what caused this except Cathy, John and I all ate the same food, except for lunch yesterday when I had South Bengali Shrimp Soup, while Cathy had vegetable soup. We will blame this on the Bengalis (sorry Shumon).