Bus Odyssey

We've left Varanasi behind and the tourist route as well (judging by the size of our entourage and the amount of stares and marked decline in scams). Our goal was to reach the temples of Khajuraho - after two days of travel we are still not there. The big mistake was trying to take the bus instead of the train, but at the time of decision making we didn't have enough accurate information to judge the situation. As we now know, the state buses in UP (Uttar Pradesh) are terrible (I could see the road beneath us through a large hole in the plywood floor only partially covered by a piece of flattened tin can under my chair) as are the roads. The heat continues to stiffle and the cramped and crowded confines of the bus amplify the effect; sometimes it is unclear if you want the window open or closed because the air that enters only scorches your face. The other passangers have all been very friendly. They even tried to get my father water when they saw him waving his bottle out the window (but they didn't understand the concept of purified water). We are currently spending the night somewhere out in UP and it looks like we'll still have trouble making it out to the site tomorrow, despite it only being 65 kms, since the connecting train only runs on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday, and there are no public buses. My father said it was possibly one of the toughest days of his life, especially since he is having some digestive issues (ironically, since he has only been drinking bottled water).