Let me first clarify that if you are going to Khajuraho for the erotic sculptures you will be dissappointed. Not that there are no erotic sculptures--there are plenty but they are less than 10% of the total sculptures. You need a trained guide to point out the erotic figures engaged in various sexual acts to locate them. Otherwise they mix with the others without being notices.
Khajuraho is famous for the erotic figures because nothing sells like Sex in the hippy circuit.
Any way.
How to reach there: Khajuraho is connected by plain to Delhi and Jet airways and Indian Airlines have daily flights. I would recommend you fly as the nearest train station is Satna and from there to Khajuraho is 110 KM of pure unadulterated hell. The road (if you can call it a road) will make you feel as if you are on moon!! It appears it has not been repaired after the temples were made(The temples are holding better). I was informed the road from Jhansi is better, but I was told the same about the road from Satna also.
Trust me friends fly to Khajuraho don’t even dream of going there by road.
The road within the city are decent, it is only the approach that is bad.
Where to stay: There are all kind of hotels to suit every budget including every respectable five star chain.
Its better to make an advance booking as during season time most of the hotels are jam packed.
The temples itself are divided in different groups based on their location. There is east group, west group etc.
Unless you want to go into details of each temple and sculpture you can visit all the temples in a single day.
The sound and light show in the night is really good and it gives you a lot of insight into the history of the temples and how and when they were constructed.
So the question is what do you do after you have completed the temples in one day??
Well there is Panna National Park situated about 32 KM from the city of Khajuraho and you can take early morning safari in an open Jeep to say HI to the King of Jungle. There are 22 tigers in the National Park, but they are not properly tracked. We visited the park twice without any luck.
All we could see was some wild pig, lots of Cheetal and Sambhar, and ofcourse lots and lots of monkeys.
There is also a Ghariyal Sanctuary which you can visit, as well as some waterfalls. All worth a small visit.
You can hire Jeeps to go there.
I am told there are also some forts around but we decided not to visit them looking at the road conditions.
In the evening there are lots of cultural programs happening in the main city and you can enjoy them also.
The prices are reasonable for most of the things. You can bargain for most of the fake antiques that you get, in the single market situated in the center of town.
Over all the whole town is very relaxed, without much traffic( the population of the city is around 10000). There is no cinema hall and one disco in Hotel Holiday Inn, so if you want to go to a happening place Khajuraho is not for you.
But if you want to go to visit a chapter in History and love serenity this is the place to be, just don’t go there for the erotic sculptures as they are only one part of the temples, there are a thousand better aspects to these monuments than the erotic sculptures.