Hotel Hindusthan International Varanasi

... els and they top it up for you 30p a bargain!!!!
going to really miss the indian food so much just becaud the spices and the food is so fdifferent to what yo have at hoem
we went om a boat ride in the evening of last night, sadly the rain from agra was also in Varanasi so no sunset :( but still amzing to see the burnuing bodies and the all day funerals taking place on th eone of the ...

... round every corner or etched into every temple mixed with a curious sense of attraction to the outrageous way of life here all come to mind. Obscene driving and queing, street treats that tantalize passersby far better than a Greg's Bakery ever could and a rich infussion of ancient traditions that dictate people's lives leave me with a strong like and dislike of India.



* The WHO stipulates it should not exceed 500 particles per 100ml just to be safe for bathing!

... for local sewage (95% of its pollution is from this source). Apparently Dr. Misha met with President G.W. during his term, and there was a big article about his environmental efforts in the New Yorker several years ago.

* saw Sarnath, place where Buddha gave his first sermon. In the museum there it was very cool to see how depictions of Buddha changed as Buddhism was marketed to different populations throughout time ...

... We spent our days in Varanasi learning about all of this, walking around town, hanging out by the ghats and enjoying the mild 48 degree weather. While hanging out at the ghats we had our first run in with a snake charmer (turns out mike is more afraid of cobras than i am!!! haha he flipped!)

On the second day we took a boat ride along the river at sunset. We went to the opposite shore where you could see decomposing bodies all over the ...

... 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 ...

... for lasting relationships and that the "Love marriages" of the Western culture are not as successful as demonstrated by the high rates of divorce. Of course that might be skewered by the fact that divorce is highly frowned on in their religion and society. Many times these marriages are arranged when the girl is as young as 15 years old but it is not consummated until she is around 20. In the ...

... sleeping in our berths. They were not excited to have been woken up and spent the whole train ride GLARING at us for taking OUR seats! They had a lot of stuff with them and had used half of their beds to store their stuff. Once we woke the, up and made them get out, they had to sleep two to a berth, and on the floor. Ahhh...gotta love Indian trains.

Varanasi is a very unique city, as the Hindus consider it to be the most holy place to die. If ...

One of the most holy cities in all of India, nestled on the banks of the Ganges this is where many Hindu's come to die and have their bodies cremated by the river as a result it is a fascinating city to visit. In the evening one could go and sit by the Ghats and watch the cremations which I found to be very peaceful and spiritual. Later once the cremations were finished the ...

... Knock!). I try to banish my reflexologist's knowledge of foot diseases as I see barefooted pilgrims tread the filthy ground down to the river. (Trish, you would be horrified!)



The river itself is bordered with 'ghats', a series of stone steps descending into the water and sitting here I watch the saddhus meditating: wild looking men with long matted white hair and beards framing ash smeared faces ...

... at 'no extra cost') where his friend appeared and led me down a labyrinth of alleys, holding an umbrella over my head, until we appeared at a sturdy door with the name of our guesthouse painted gaily above it. Sure enough the door had a huge padlock on it and a small sign indicated that it had closed down for some unexplained reason. Luckily for us though, the driver knew a guesthouse we could stay in and drove us there whereupon a protracted exchange in Hindi took place between ...