I’m on a train. I just got my bed set up. The train should leave in about 10 minutes. It’s a long train ride, but in the morning we’ll reach Varanasi. I’m excited to see Varanasi. I’m also excited because it’ll be one step closer to home (and out of India).

I had a more relaxed day than I’ve been having in the past week. Khajuraho had many people who immediately accosted me after leaving the hotel, but it wasn’t as bad as Jaipur or Agra. In fact, it almost felt relaxing.

I locked my key in my room today. It was stupid and totally my fault. I grabbed a key on the way out of the room, but it unfortunately was the key for the bike I’d just been given. I let the front desk person know and he said he’d get the master key. The master key turned out to be a big plastic bucket filled with keys of every shape and size. After trying each of the keys he still didn’t have the door open. He then said he’d have to call a locksmith and I would need to pay for it. I asked him how much and he said 300. I told him that seemed like too much, but he stuck to that price. A couple minutes later the locksmith was there. He didn’t do anything to unlock the door, but rather popped off the pain in the window and opened the door that way. I went into the room and grabbed the 300 and went out to give it to the locksmith. The front desk worker told me not to and that I should pay at the front desk. I was under the impression I was paying for the locksmith, not making money for the hotel. I gave the locksmith the money. When they were all leaving I followed them down the stairs at a distance and heard the front desk guy yelling at the locksmith in Hindi. I kept a little distance and watched. I walked outside just as the locksmith was reaching in his pocket and handing the front desk guy 100 rupees. I then started bitching. He handed me the 100 rupees and said he was trying to get some of the money back for me. It was such bullshit. After that I decided not to eat lunch or dinner at the hotel. I’m grateful that was the only time today I had to get really mad at someone. The rest of the day was spent avoiding the people on the streets that tried to get something out of me. I rented a bike and biked around the city and to the other temples. None of it was really that interesting.

Varanasi and then I’m in step closer to home. Yay! I’m so ready to get out of India. I don’t absolutely hate this place, but it’s not really my idea of a fun time traveling. It’s a shame, too. There are so many beautiful things to see in this country.

Gratitude List:
A few new friends
Getting one step closer to home
A nice restaurant to spend some time in