Varanasi

This past weekend, we went to Varanasi,and it was insane. We indulged ourselves and flew, which was great because a twelve hour train became a one hourflight.

We got there and navigated the narrow streets to our hostel, which was a niceplace overlooking the Ganges (or as the Indianscall it, the Ganga). I can't say enough about how cramped the town was. One walks out the door and is more or less completely lost in less than a minute. The streets get as narrow as 2 to 3 feet, and still you have people, cows, and motorcycles all trying to get through without stopping.

Saturday, we walked around a lot. We went to the Golden Temple, which was a huge, but organized free-for-all.It was like all of India in one tiny temple; somehow it just works. there were these huge lines of people criss-crossing all over waiting to stand infront of different idols (mostly shiva) for a few seconds to say a few words and throw some flowers on top. While all of this is going on, monkeys are running all over the place, people are putting all sorts of clay and powder on your face, and others are spraing water all over the floor.

After that, we decided to make it down to the Ghats, which are theseries of named steps going right down to the riverside. We followed some random guy who wanted to show us the "cremations." We didn't really know what to think, but we followed him, nd as it turns out, he wasn't lying. Varanasi is a place where peoplefrom all over India go to die. The result is this hospice by the river filled with the old and destitute. When they die, they are openly cremated in the bonfires by the side of the river. It was a pretty wierd and gruesome thing to come across, but that's Indian culture, and that's life.

That night, our hotel provided a boat, and from the river, we watched the daily ceremony to the Ganga river performed by the ocal Brahmans. More or less a thousandpeople showed up to watch. The ceremony consisted of many repeated handmotions involving featers, rice, inscense, and cups of fire.

Beyond that, not that much happened thats worth writing about. We met some cool dudes from Chile, and an old Brit named Paul. Varanasi was a very chill place, and it was nice to relax a little bit and be away from Delhi.

This is our last week. It's a little sad to be leaving the kids, but I can't wait for Israeil, so generally things are pretty great.

Below: Streets of Varanasi and me trying to row a boat