Rahul Guest House Varanasi

... of the funeral pyres are understandably forbidden.<br>Sat there for a while until a group of us were moved out of the way by some Ox and cows which decided to charge up the steps where we were sitting.<br>I decided to see the Ganga pooja again this time from the ghat itself and after headed for some dinner (not before stepping in some cow ****).<br>On the way back to the hotel I decided to stop at the cinema to watch a movie (London Dreams - pretty good) before getting back around 2am.

... city and bought some street food which was served on a leaf, Em found it really difficult to eat though as the smells around the place make it difficult to keep an appetite. We got a rickshaw to the train station to book our ticket to Agra but unfortunately it was full so we are going to Delhi instead on an overnight train, we wanted sleeper class but they weren't available either so we had to pay more for a air conditioned carriage instead.<br> <br>That evening we went ...

... They then take dry torch to the eternal flame, that exists in the temple directly above the pyres, capture part of the flame and walk back to the pyre. They walk 7 times around the funerary pyre then ignite the pile. <br><br>Doms, untouchable lower chaste workers are used to manage the fire and insure a complete burn. There are always some remains, usually the pelvis of women and sometime the chest of a man. These unburnt remains are put into the Holy River Ganges ...

... went for half hour because time was running out! Just as we were finished &amp; getting off the boat, there was a dead little girl laid out, getting ready for the boat. her father was there in an awful state, it was really heart-breaking. it was the only real emotion we saw. while sitting at the burning ghat a few nights before, it was really hard to tell who were the family, as no emotion was expressed or there was no-one standing around the fire as it burnt. So ...

... journals, when Dad, Mum, Issy, and I were all in a tutu a cow nearly pooed on us but thankfully our tutu driver swirled out the way. Then today my fist almost went up a cows backside. In India there is a safety level, lets say my rating is 1 out of 200 i.e. no seatbelts in cars so if you crash then your doomed, and if your walking across the street then nobody stops to let you cross safely they just zoom past you like they don&#8217;t give a monkeys.

It was a welcome return to humid temperatures in Delhi. After the pleasant cool of the Ladakhi wonderland that lies, oh only a short 34hr bus ride over the Himalayas, Delhi actually felt a little like coming home. McLeod Ganj, Manali and Ladakh didn't really feel like India. They were relatively civil, tidy and hassle free, not to mention surrounded by stunning 'non-India' terrain and features. Leh is basically a small Tibet (or so peoples say), embroided with Buddhist shrines ...

... too. There's alot of pimp my camera going on in these parts and it's very difficult to know if you are getting the real deal or not.<br><br>Whilst waiting for the camera doctor i sat and watched a street side renegade dentist. The guy was basically sitting in a gutter with his utensils and tools laid out all around him including torturous looking metal mouth openers and heavy duty pliers for yanking teeth out. He also had a little food cooker burner for lighting a fire ...

... Shiva. Another sadhu was spruiking to sell his 'Baba Chai' tea. Harassment was at an all time high with silk touts and boat owners smelling us as new kids on the block and potential income. In the distance to the north we could see the smoke and flames as another Hindu body burned on a pyre. Back in the old city i was happy to see all my favourites on the menu at Apsara restaurant where a large sign on their entrance says 'yes. we are not as dirty'. The words kofta ...

... As our boat man chatted to grieving relatives the tide moved our boat extremely close to the feet sticking out of a burning pyer. Poor Murph, not the world's biggest fan of feat in the first place, living or dead, was within a couple of yards of this corpse. Jaysus ! Eventually we moved on to a safer distance. We also got to witness from the water the amasing Pujas which take place on the Ghats every night. An amazin spectacle of ...

... scenery I had seen in India. The villages we drove through seemed to enjoy us as much as we enjoyed them. This was clearly the most excitement they had had in a long time! We were a bit nervous that we would miss our train, as it seemed we were going in the opposite direction we had started out in, but we eventually made it to the Tundla rail station. The train was, of course, delayed so we had plenty of time.<br><br>We were greeted by several ...