Pradeep Varanasi

... Al ratito llego un contingente de franceses que nos rodearon para charlar con nosotros, y ahí Viole pudo desplegar sus habilidades afrancesadas para entretenerlos. A la hora y media vino el tren, que por cierto era muy cómodo, tenía una cama para cada uno asique nos dormimos todo el viaje. Lo único peligroso es que el tren va haciendo escala y nadie te avisa cuando bajar, ya que esta todo apagado y todos durmiendo, por eso es muy fácil pasarse de estación. Acá el GPS fue de ...

<br> Tuesday 6th October. We packed up and had an ordinary breakfast at a café and headed to the train station after getting some supplies of food snacks and water for the trip. The train was 2 hours late so finally we boarded at 3.30pm for the 23 hour trip to Varanasi. Typically we had to turf people off our seats and then turf them off so we could sleep. This is typical here unless you stake your claim people will sit on your seat and take your room on the sleeper bench as ...

... a dead cow in the middle of the road, a dead body about to be burned on the Ganga, a fight between a man and woman about a mobile phone (he scammed her we think?!) and I've been smacked in the mouth by a stinking, sweaty cow tail!!! WHIPPED! Yuck...but we kinda like it here! Its very surreal, especially the river Ganga. At night there's an eerie mist that hangs over the water, which mixes with fumes from the burning bodies on the ghats...we ...

... four or five computers (which were otherwise totally exposed to the internet). I enjoyed this magical moment of reading over an e-mail from my husband and looking up to watch a cow eat garbage in the street. <br><br>The scene here is fantastic- plenty of Westerners walking around- which means plenty of internet cafes (none too high tech), telephones, shops, and small restaurants. However, the look is perfectly Indian- you can't spit and not hit some-hole-in-the ...

... to learn Ayurvedic massage with his wife. We're loving Benares so much that we may just plant ourselves for awhile and do some of the course on offer. Jewellery, yoga, tabla, astrology, flute and Hindi, there's inspiration lurking everywhere. Considering we'll be in India for another few months, i've decided to learn some Hindi. So far i can say:<br><br>jaa ne kaa man ho ra haa hay kat put lee kaa sho- I feel like going to as puppet theatre<br> and <br>na shaar charga- i'm ...

Hey all! <br>Got the night train to Varanasi! top bunks of three tier carriage. Lights out early! slept really well though suprisingly! As usual the train station was chaotic with people sleeping and sitting everywhere. A man spotted us almost immediately and offered us a lift in his auto rickshaw. He laughed when we told him the name of the hostel we had booked! &gt;&gt;You will not like madame!&gt;&gt; <br>Presuming he was ...

... at Varanasi City, only a few minutes from our final destination. Eventually, after more than an hour had passed, suddenly the train sprang to life and a few minutes later we rolled into our station. We all disembarked, and the girls negotiated a price with an auto rickshaw driver. These were a loud, smelly, rickety contraptions on three wheels that hooned around the cities as fast as their lawnmower motors could take them, dodging traffic and scraping ...

... a bit like local news in Atlanta, - chatty, light and hyper-promoted. The remaining language channels seemed like a mix of mostly religious, political, &amp; entertainment-oriented (lots of old Bollywood films could be had in one click!)<br><br> <br><br> Nov 15<br><br> Finally I was able to venture out and resume the tour schedule which this day featured a visit to Sarnath, the city where Buddha delivered his first sermons to his disciples ...

... plant outside Varanasi. It was a growing and severe problem and Nandan took me to one of these villages called Mehdiganj and the headquarters for Lok Samiti (doubled as a community center) to meet the people and see village life, while his beautiful wife Bunti taught some dance classes to the local girls for entertainment. A really great experience. <br><br>Lok Samiti is sponsored by ...

... The rain had soaked the logs and it seemed that the chandal would having some difficulty lighting it. Although the boatman was intent on drifting as close to the body as possible and remaining there, we felt a little intrusive and asked to be rowed away from the scene.<br><br>Further down we passed other ghats, all perched with numerous ascetics and pilgrims. One such ghat, high up on the bank, seated only two people; one alive and the other dead. The living one was a cross legged ...