Hi all!
First let me let you know Im okay. Although the recent delhi and agra bombings may not have made it into the news, im sure the 6.6 earthquake that shook nepal and north india did. It hit the Himalayan regions the worst....where I was in Agra (just south of Delhi, most famous for the Taj Mahal) the ground just trembled a bit, no worries!
So....2 bombs, an earthquake, protests, delhi belly LOL Im getting the full Indian experience!
Im in Varanasi and loving life. This is MY India. A city with a heart beating through the Ganges. Happened to come into town during a pilgrimage of hundreds of women who come to Varanasi to bathe in the Ganges to increase their chances of getting pregnant (or healthy, good lives for their children if they are older).
The train station was CRAZY, packed to the brim with woman pressed shoulder to shoulder in bright yellow, red, pink and gold saris. That night hundreds of people swarmed, pushing and pressing towards the banks of the Ganges, to be able to get a chance to wade into the dark, oily water and splash their arms and faces. Some women stripped off their saris and went topless in, dunking their cloths and immersing their heads under the sooty black brown water. Washed up onto the river bank were piles of plastic and garbage, human waste and flowers. Boats full of people floated off the shores of the river, reflected in the water by hundreds of small floating, flickering lights up. For 10 rupees you could buy a little leaf bowl filled with flowers and wax with a wick that from the children that hopped from boat to boat. You make 3 wishes and release the little flickering leaf boat into the water, and your wishes float into the heart of the Ganges and come true.
My little wish boat
All at the same time, on a rooftop beside the water, 6 men dressed in holy garb are singing and chanting and waving goblets of fire in a ceremonial dance. The men's chanting is amplified over speakers and echo through the crowd.
First let me let you know Im okay. Although the recent delhi and agra bombings may not have made it into the news, im sure the 6.6 earthquake that shook nepal and north india did. It hit the Himalayan regions the worst....where I was in Agra (just south of Delhi, most famous for the Taj Mahal) the ground just trembled a bit, no worries!
So....2 bombs, an earthquake, protests, delhi belly LOL Im getting the full Indian experience!
Im in Varanasi and loving life. This is MY India. A city with a heart beating through the Ganges. Happened to come into town during a pilgrimage of hundreds of women who come to Varanasi to bathe in the Ganges to increase their chances of getting pregnant (or healthy, good lives for their children if they are older).
The train station was CRAZY, packed to the brim with woman pressed shoulder to shoulder in bright yellow, red, pink and gold saris. That night hundreds of people swarmed, pushing and pressing towards the banks of the Ganges, to be able to get a chance to wade into the dark, oily water and splash their arms and faces. Some women stripped off their saris and went topless in, dunking their cloths and immersing their heads under the sooty black brown water. Washed up onto the river bank were piles of plastic and garbage, human waste and flowers. Boats full of people floated off the shores of the river, reflected in the water by hundreds of small floating, flickering lights up. For 10 rupees you could buy a little leaf bowl filled with flowers and wax with a wick that from the children that hopped from boat to boat. You make 3 wishes and release the little flickering leaf boat into the water, and your wishes float into the heart of the Ganges and come true.
My little wish boat
All at the same time, on a rooftop beside the water, 6 men dressed in holy garb are singing and chanting and waving goblets of fire in a ceremonial dance. The men's chanting is amplified over speakers and echo through the crowd.
Making our way through the throng of hundreds of people to get to the water was intense. We made our way to the shores and onto a huge, old wooden boat floating off the ghats that immediately pushed off and into the Ganges. We watched the surging crowd from a distance, with the company of other floating boats filled with dozens of people. Understandable, the most popular way to view the ceremonies is from the safety of a boat. Unfortunately, due to the monsoon rains the Ganges was overflowing so it was illegal to actually take a boatride due to the danger of the swollen currents so we bobbed along by the riverside and watched.
Tomorrow I hop on an overnight train back to Delhi, where I will chill for a day or two then fly south to Trivandrum (aka Thiruvananthapuram). The plan is to make my way north up the coast then head inland to Hampi :)
Tomorrow I hop on an overnight train back to Delhi, where I will chill for a day or two then fly south to Trivandrum (aka Thiruvananthapuram). The plan is to make my way north up the coast then head inland to Hampi :)
On the streets of Varanasi...view from a cycle rickshaw
