River of Life - full of death

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Arrival in Varanasi was just in time for the sunrise. We spend some time on the stone steps at the river observing the scenery.
The Ganges or Ganga as the locals say is really not that appetizing and still people not only bath in it but drink it and wash their mouths as the Hindus believe that it has all purifying properties. In the 2 days we've been here now we've seen one dead cow floating in the water, the fairly desheveled remains of a human thorax and have been told that there are 5 exceptions to the rule that hindus normally burn their dead: babies, pregnant women, death by snakebite or unknown cause and death by small pox. All of the above are tied to a large stone and dumped in the river directly.
Apart from the chemical plants that are upstream and deliver heavy metal to the mix.
Don't get us wrong the town is fascinating and it is more relaxed than we thought, we are just giving you the facts. By the way the water is not smelly just dirty. We have asked ourselves if that is the reason that there are hardly any mosquitoes even though there is plenty of water.?
Sunrise is fascinating, so we've been getting up early every morning to gaze.
Tomorrow evening we'll be on our way down south to see Tony and Janice (Terry's uncle and aunt) in Goa.

Hope you enjoy the pics
Lots of love Claudia and Terry

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Comments

[Nicki (and Mo)]

Terrific
Dear Claudia and Terry, It's brilliant to read your travel diary and enjoy your adventures with you. It seems that you're more than a million miles away from life in rainy Kent. Life here is pretty hectic - school is full on Nativity (dress rehearsal today was filmed by Paul O'Grady's show - but that's another story), Mo had his surprise 40th birthday party the other week, our kids have their heads buried in Argos catalogues and e.bay preparing for Christmas and the rain and grotty weather doesn't stop. It's lovely to step out of all that and look at your wonderful photos. Lots of love to you both, Nicki xxx