Leela Guest House Varanasi

... carry it over to the fire and dump it on. Stupidly i kept watching, it was like a car crash, you can't help but look. The cloth burnt off almost straight away and then all you can see is the body burning. Grim.

The next day i got up before dawn AGAIN and took a sunrise row boat, it looked amazing watching the mist wrap around the temples and slowly creep towards the river. It was really romantic, shame i was in the boat on my own being rowed by an old ...

... en cualquier lugar, grupos de personas que se juntaban alrededor de su Gurú a escuchar sus enseñanzas por todas partes, poco a poco nos empezó a cautivar la energía del lugar. Es realmente una ciudad muy espiritual. Pero lo que vinimos a buscar está un poco más al norte, en los Himalayas, y hacia allí partiremos mañana a la mañana en un bus de dos días. Les vamos a seguir contando a medida que podamos.

Gracias por leernos y acordarse de nosotros. Los queremos.

Viole y Eze

... train to move, while sitting in the heat over the tracks and the waste below. It made Grampa Jacobs' ol out-house seem like a bouquet of flowers!

We rode in 3rd AC sleeper. The 2 tier AC sleeper and 3 tier Sleepers all fit into one coach. The cars have about eight "compartments". Each compartment consists of two chair/beds along the left side of the coach, one over the other. The 2 tier sets are roomier. Across the aisle, there are six bunk beds in two ...

... that should you die in Varanasi, you are exempted out of the re-incarnation cycle and move on to be with the gods. Because of this, there are quite a few hospice homes set up to aid the dying, and to prepare them what is to come. And for those already past, it is the place all Hindus wish to be cremated, with their ashes then scattered into the Ganges. Along a few of the Ghats, bodies (as many as 200 per day) are burned. Bodies ...

... and one of the more obscure ones happening whilst we were there was called Nag Panchami. The day is dedicated to the worship of Nagas or Snakes. Yay! Snake day! Snakes are worshipped in Hinduism and Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva are closely associated with serpents. Lord Vishnu has the seven-hooded Snake Shesha as his bed and Lord Shiva wears a snake around his neck. On Nag Panchami people draw snakes on their doorways to welcome them and prayers are offered at Naga ...

... was meant to be. They went from being street kids to princesses in an instant and posed for photos in our scarves and sunglasses, joy and smiles all round. we're not sure if it was the right thing to do but why can't the littel girls have a little bit of joy. Hand-outs to beggars is a case by case situation and this was the case this time. So be it.

I bought some anklets with little bells attached to them that jingle as i walk, pixie sounds all round and we bought ...

... it was ***********centrate on his words as there were three pyres in different stages of immolation blazing behind him. Each pyre had the same shape – basically a square of neatly stacked wood with a corpse stuffed near the center. The one nearest the river and the furthest gone already had men sweeping the ashes towards the water. Interestingly, there were several men wading in the water just off the bank where the river received the ashes. They were carrying ...

... river and how it made him strong. The Ganges in Varanasi contains 10,000 times the level of bacteria and germs than is allowed in drinking water in the UK, if a westerner was to drink the water they’d be in hospital very quickly, even getting the water on broken skin can cause all sorts of nastiness. Venture away from the Ghats and Varanasi is a maze of narrow streets ...

... is often referred to as "Little India" and is named for the confluence of the rivers Varuna and Asi yet many residents still prefer to use the *******ization of the name as Benares. Varanasi is well-known as one of the world's oldest continually inhabited cities and probably shares a relationship with the River Ganges more closely than any other city in India. The origin of India's ancient health system, ayurveda, is said to have been in ...

... of which without doubt the boatman was. Without hesitation he replied "No, this is not sinful, this is business".

That evening we were introduced to a small and peaceful-looking man in his forties with orange hennaed hair. His name was Akay and he was a yoga teacher and healer. He led us up onto the roof and sat us down on blankets as the sun was setting behind us and dozens of dainty kites jittered on rising thermals above the city. Pretty soon, after a brief lecture about ...