Hotel Inder Prasth Katra

I woke up quite early to speak to Rita on Skype but as soon as we finished I went back to bed. The guys came to get me at around 12.30. We had a drink at the hotel and then went for a swim at the hotel swimming-pool. It was nice to spend the afternoon chilling.<br><br>The girls and I decided to go for some food while the guys stayed in the swimming pool. During that time, Momo got to talking to a French guy who was there and he was from Billé and had played for Bill ...

... some food and then I had to go back to the hotel to have a little nap. Momo and Noumet then joined me at the hotel so we could have a few drinks. We had a really good time and it was a bit surreal to meet with these guys in the middle of India!!<br><br>We tried to watch the World Cup play-off game Ireland-France on the internet but we could not unfortunately. We did not push the limits and called it a day at around 2am.

... assassinated. The family's palatial estate in Allahabad is now a museum and you can see it perfectly preserved. The house provided the grounds for the Indian National Congress and their decades long protests against the British Empire. You could look through the glass and see the hundreds of books Nehru and his family were reading, the luxurious lifestyle they lived (they had the first car in Allahabad) and even the rooms Gandhi stayed in during his visits. Indira's house was also ...

A night on a hard mud hut schoolroom floor provided rest after a 125km ride over gravel, sand, potholes, a mountain and some tarmac. It was beautiful 'though, from Uttar Pradesh into Madhya Pradesh; Gangetic plain to highland drama and down. Rocky outcrops with silhouetted monkeys and eagles against deep, long valleys and peaks turning blue into the distance greeted us on completion of a gruelling, annoyingly steep, long and bumpy slog up a tabletop mountain that ...

... the Ganges and Yamuna, a triumvirate of river goddesses who hold the key to life's elixir. This is the largest congregation of people on the planet engaged in a single purpose. The riddle can be found in the Garden of Eden, in the mysteries of the chakras, in kundalini yoga, in tantra, in our relationship with the cosmos, in the flow of the rivers and the goddesses who display the hidden archetypes. The myth is a story of gods and demons fighting over the Nectar of ...

... from India. He did a good job. Picked out something all by himself. Imagine that. Adam shopping. I also bought something cool for Chaelah and Alannah. Not sure if they will like what I got them, but I am really hoping so! I also got 4 pairs of pants tailored and Adam got one pair. They are all made out of combed cotton and are very nice. ANyways, Adam is complaining that he has to go to the bathroom for the fourth million time today so we had better run!!! Love, Brittni and Adam

Not sure where I am actually on the map right now, writing from Allahabad, India. Left Chitakrut this am...another small very holy village in India. One of the branches of the Ganges runs through this town so there were many ghats and holy happenings here. We did a walking pilgrimage or circumambulation in town yesterday evening which according to our leader, was the equivalent of Muslims going to Mecca. We took an evening boat ride ...

Allahabad was where India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was born. We toured his family's house, now a museum, and it was very inspirational to see the rooms where Gandhi stayed and the balcony on which he worked when he was ...

Varanasi Up at 6am to get down the Ganga River to watch the sunrise. Hired a boat for one and a half hours to row up the river along the famous Ganga Ghats (Steps) where a number of funeral pyres were burning. Felt a bit intrusive doing this and watching people washing ...

After 12-hour-train-ride, I arrived Varanasi, one of the most famous pilgrimage sites for Hindus. Varanasi is located on the bank of River Ganga, a holy river for Hindus. They believe it to have flown from heaven to wash away sins. To die in the city is a promise to be liberated from the endless cycle of life and death, and to gain eternal absolution. So thousands of pilgrims come to Varanasi to pray ...