Our first train ride
Trip Start
Feb 14, 2005
1
21
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Trip End
May 06, 2005
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Varanasi,
India
Saturday, March 26, 2005
We took an overnight train ride from Agra to Varanasi. The train station in Agra was chaotic and smelly-like urine and poo, but what else is new? There are huge rats running around in the railroad tracks. We also witnessed a fight--a fairly well-dressed man was yelling and hitting a young boy that was begging for money. The boy started crying and ran away. Soon after, the young boy threw a chunk of clay that striked the man. Then the man ran after the boy, chasing him out of sight, with mobs of people following them. There was also a black out; the whole train station became pitch black for a minute, but it seemed like eternity. We had to grab hold of our bags tightly, not knowing if it will still be there when the electricity comes back on.
I wish I can do something to make this trip better for Peter. I wanted to go to India so badly; I wanted to see the Incredible India that I imagined it to be. Yet so far its been a daily struggle to keep our spirits high among the craziness that we have to endure.
I thought Varanasi would be different since it is "The Holy City," but it is just like the other places we have been--polluted and crowded. We took an evening river boat ride along the Ganges River, where we heard a daily ritual chanting that vibrated the whole area. The next day, we went on another boat ride, this time, it was before dawn to see the mist over the river play with the light from the sunrise. It was peaceful looking at the temples, ghats, and people; people were swimming, bathing, and playing in the river. However, the river had a muddy, brown color that was not too appealing for me. In fact, it was quite disgusting as I saw a man rinsing his mouth in the river bank that was full of trash and gosh know what else.
We also witnessed the burning of dead bodies, as Varanasi is a special/ritualistic place for people to be cremated. There is even a hospice building for people that know they will not live much longer..so they come here for their last days of life.
