Sunday, October 10, 2010

from the Holy (shit) City of Varanasi

wellll, lots has happened ;)
currently we are in Varanasi, one of the holiest cities in india, located along the Ganga (Ganges) River where 45,000 dead bodies (some cremated, some 'partially cremated'??? says my book) are dumped into the river to move on through the stages of reincarnation. also, people flock to the city to bathe and become more holy, the pilgrimage is crazy right now due to a major festival going on and people from all over the country have made their way to this crazy town!
The sunrise here is gorgeous and made amazingly easy to stare at because the pollution levels are so high that the bright pink orb maintains enough UV protection high into the sky to allow for direct visualization (don't worry mom, the sunspots only last for about 3 minutes ;)
The rickshaws, both motorized and foot pedal are insane here and there is honking beyond all beleif with the occasional WHACK noise as careening vehicles clip one another, if but briefly.
We saw many temples yesterday and were lucky enough to be led around by a local who had the day off from school....who of course asked us to come back to his local silk shop and buy stuff when done. Lessons in india: everybody loves you, because you might have money (more on that later)
For now, i must back to the world of web search for helpful info regarding reinstatement of passports in india...
on the last night of our 40 hour train ride to Varanasi, someone sneakily stole my passport, money, credit cards, and camera...funny how it seemed keeping everything iimportant and in one place near to me was a good idea at the time...
but no worries! koichinta nahin in hindi!
more adventure and india exploration awaits, just with a new twist (lime please!)

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