We landed in Delhi at around 4:30 am. We got through immigration and customs quickly, and grabbed our bags quickly as well. Upon exiting the baggage claim area, we were immediately met by an ATJ representative, who gave us our paperwork, then led us literally 10 feet to the Palace Premier Lounge, where we had a "nap suite" so that we could get a bit more sleep before our 10am departure to Khajuraho. We set an alarm for 8, but didn't get back to sleep right away, but what sleep we got was at least better than nothing. That being said, we were both very tired when we woke up at 8. Check-in and security were not fun, perhaps because we had woken up only 10 minutes earlier and were grumpy, perhaps because it just sucked anyway. Even though our checked luggage weighed about half of what was allowed, they said we needed to move stuff out of our carry-on bag, which was too heavy - the limit is an absurdly low 7kg (15 lbs). We would have gladly moved stuff, but it was all cameras, laptops, paperwork and the breakable trinkets we'd picked up in Jordan, Egypt, and Turkey. So we made it look like we were moving a bunch of stuff around, and Justin put on his camera hip belt (which was inside the carry-on bag before), and that got us close enough that we were okayed. [Of course, we put the camera belt back inside the bag on the other side of security, so this was all a futile exercise, but whatever.]

The security line was as sterile and draconian as they come, with everyone dressed in military garb with assault rifles. It actually resembled a US-style show of force, but if the TSA members were members of the military who never smiled. We got through without being thrown in jail or having any of our stuff taken, so that was good. It was not a good first impression of India, but we tried to keep an open mind, and were thankful that this was our last flight in India until the day we start heading home. The flight to Khajaraho (via Varanasi) was short and straightforward. Very few people got off the plane in Khajaraho - apparently it was not a popular destination. We grabbed our bags, met another ATJ representative, and got in a van headed for Bandhavgarh National Park. They had prepared a nice packed lunch, with fried chicken, potato chips, a raspberry muffin, plus a sandwich and an orange.

We had a five hour drive, generally southeast, towards Umaria, passing by the Panna National Park (which is a famous tiger reserve that had to grudgingly admit a few years back that it no longer had any tigers), through Satna, over Ban Sagar Lake and past Damoy to the south. Along the way, there was lots of open woodland, and cleared areas around the villages and towns we went through. The drive was an amalgamation of various other drives we've had recently, including several of the drives in Java and Madagascar, but with water buffalo thrown in as well. There were hundreds if not thousands of cows along (or in) the road, hundreds of water buffalo, dozens and dozens of goats, lots of monkeys and stray dogs, and two large pigs for good measure. We got to Bandhavgarh around 5:30, where it became much greener (but not exactly green) about 2 miles before our resort. We saw a group of axis deer (aka Tiger food) around then as well.

The resort was very nice, and our room was enormous. We also had some sort of an owl just outside one of the windows, very well camoflauged. We got situated, then went over for an "early" dinner at 6:45. Dinner consisted of a smorgasbord of different Indian dishes, including lentils, mutton, rice, naan, etc. Unfortunately, there were plenty of mosquitos, who congregated around our feet and ankles while we ate. We got back to the room a bit after 11 (we can't remember it taking four hours for dinner, but that's what our notes say), then went to sleep.