Shiv Ganga Resort Varanasi

... buildings are really tall. After the dead body incident and the skank streets i really didnt wanna leave my hostel i hadnt even got to the parts people had warned about, but im here to see all i can, i fixed up and went out.

All along the river banks are Ghats. These are basically temples leading down to the water and people come to wash away their sins, wash their clothes, poo, wash the buffalos and even brush their teeth. The river is sceptic around ...

... or que hace las mejores citaras de la zona. Otro día, Amid nos ofreció si queríamos visitar a su Gurú para que nos hiciera una carta natal o una lectura astrológica, y le dijimos que si porque nos intereso la idea de estar frente a un Gurú de la India a ver que nos decía y como nos miraba. Pero al llegar ahí, apenas lo vimos, sentimos que no era lo nuestro, asique le dijimos que no teníamos plata para pagar sus servicios.

Un aspecto que nos sigue generando una sensación ...

... just people watching though as people bathed, meditated, washed clothes in the river.

We are leaving Varanasi tonight on the sleeper train to Delhi. Varanasi was a really interesting place so definitely glad we came as the ghats were so fascinating. Was good to have met Chris as well, he spent the whole time with us but he has already been to India before so helped us settle into India a bit easier. First impressions of India are very dirty and smelly but fasinating.

The Ganges were a little different to what we had both expected. We boarded a large rowing boat with our tour group accompanied by 2 musicians. This made for a truly spectacular setting.

While on the boat we were given a number of beautiful flower candles in order to participate in the flower ceremony. Our tour leader told us that we should make a wish for each flower we placed in the Gange River and we did just that. I'm sure you can all guess what our first ...

... and occasionally capturing a rivals best kite. Last night we watched the ganga aarti ceremony from a boat just offshore of the Dasaswamedh ghat which was fantastic to watch. We woke early this morning and watched the sun rise on the Ganges and enjoyed a nice glass of chai.

All for now, headed to Agra and the Taj Majal on an overnight train!!

... at our doorstep. We've got steel bars up over our balconies off the room but another day whilst i was dozing on the bed i felt as though someone was in the room with me so i opened my eyes and looked around to find that three monkeys were eyeballing me. A mother monkey had pushed her tiny baby in through the gaps in the steel bars so it could sneak around and pilfer our mangoes whilst the dad kept his eyes on me in case i moved. As soon as the robbers were caught ...

... was overflowing with people and guesthouses filled up as pilgrims and tourists arrived in preparation for the total solar eclipse that can only be viewed from here and a few other places on earth, it's a big deal. We took another walk on the ghats soaking up the atmosphere and i was down for the foot dunk again for more purification. We watched some kids diving from high heights into the water and were stalked and hassled as we enjoyed numerous cups of chai and people ...

... side of the river was filled with the sight of the ghat lined city of Varanasi, while the other side was almost completely empty with the exception of a few grazing cows. When I asked the boatman why one side was so desolate he either didn't understand my question or I didn't understand his answer. It didn't matter much, though, as I would get plenty of other questions answered as we made our way to some of the fires burning ahead.

When our small boat approached ...

... prompted some time for meditation and, of course, some tv viewing. Indian cable television is a selection of mostly Indian programming in Hindi, Punjab and other languages but they also offer Indian versions in English of BBC News, CNN, and a variety of movie channels. The one HBO channel has commercials oddly enough and a very funny British-produced (ITV) Indian sitcom called Mumbai Calling. Some of their more locally-produced news channels also ...

... untouchables would stalk the wards with their bamboo stretchers like the henchmen of the Grim Reaper, stooping over the emaciated and diseased patients, checking for signs of breathing. Of course, Hindu believers don't see it like that at all; it is an auspicious place to die where, upon expiry, they can look forward to entering a pain and disease free world. Nevertheless the place sent a chill down my spine.

We turned around and went back to the ghat we had embarked from ...