Khajuraho is renowned (or notorious, depending on your lifestyle  - and, of course, whether you've even heard of it) for being the location of an ancient Indian civilization where there are the remains of one thousand year old temples with erotic carvings on their interior and exterior walls.

The town is relatively clean and quiet about a 90 minute flight from Delhi. There are a number of lovely sandstone temples carved with medieval Indian gods, characters, beasts both real and mythical, as well as erotica (only about ten percent of the sculpture is erotic, often with a comedic bent).

The "western group" of temples is enclosed in a park setting and charges a $5 admission fee. It was about a 10 minute walk from my hotel and I visited it in the afternoon when I arrived and again the next morning, in order to get different lighting opportunities. Except for one large group of people at one temple it was no problem to get pictures with no one in them - unless I wanted there to be.

The other temples are scattered on the outskirts of town and I used a guide and a taxi to access them - you show up, walk in and around, no charge, no hassle by the guards. Mornings were foggy but the sun came out later. This is not the Taj Mahal - access is easy, viewing and photography are casual.

I visited the "old town", with guide, and got an idea of how Indians of different castes live. I also visited a town that was described to me as being "even poorer" than the lower class in the old town but, in all instances, families seemed to own their own home (although no knowing how many people shared it).

The photographs in the gallery are mostly of the temples and the sculpture. I did take photos in the towns but there was a wariness that I don't typically experience in India and I didn't feel ignored like I usually do - most of the photos were more "posed" than I like, and unrevealing. The sculptures, on the other hand, are expressive and intriguing.

Some of my memorable moments were sent back as photos in more or less real-time emails to a few friends. I've reproduced the photo journal for Khajuraho and Varanasi here.