We roamed the streets, getting lost almost everytime (yeehaw!), saw the Burning Ghat where people are cremated in fires turned by people of the lower caste (how well your body is burned depends on how much wood your family can afford). It was a serious and yet not somber vibe, here (in Hinduism) death is a part of the cycle of reincarnation and to have died in Varanasi and your body given to the Ganges is a step in the right direction when it comes to how you're gonna come back.
We also met with a man who has been trying to clean up the Ganges for over 40 years! We went to his hood, not really expecting to find him and ended up speaking with him for over an hour, more about relationships in his life and philosophies than the Ganges; he had a most amazing light in his eyes when spoke about close friends and their experiences together.
Let's see, we went on a sunrise boatride along the Ganges viewing 'The Ghats', a collection of tall buildings , mosques and temples from the river in the sunrise's light...gorgeious! Also our oarsman was a small little kid with some gumption which we adore of course!
There were also many beers drank at our favorite rooftop bar, located conveniently on the top floor of the hostel we stayed at as we talked with other travellers from Israel, Scotland, Germany and watched the monkeys play and reek havok upon the neighboring rooftops...and sometimes ours!
One of the most fun things we did in Varanasi (vs all the ridiculous hilarious things that just HAPPENED in Varanasi) was go to visit the Monkey Temple. Yeah yeah, just another Hindu temple you think, with gods and orange bhindi paint along the pillars and walls, but NO! It is a large open area temple and hundreds, seriously hundreds of free range monkeys (not to be later eaten), run free and play and glide and attack each other all around you! The best part of this scene was watching tourists in large groups walk through areas of monkeys, because when the women all get scared and scream, the monkeys totally attack, grabbing playfully but hard at their beautiful brightly colored sarees...which continued to crack us up over and over again! really it never gets old ;) and we got to feed the monkeys too, polite lil' buggers when they know you respect but do not fear them.
Anyhow, so we took a long train ride, battled the metro (like ptown's MAX) and are now staying with a lovely family we met in Kanyakumari. Today we toured the Red Fort and nearby enormous mosque, during which i got to wear a lovely stunning orange moo moo to cover my arms...pictures to follow.
