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Published: April 12th 2008
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Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2005 00:39:51 -0700 (PDT)
From: "molly
Subject: happy father's day from varanasi
To: my parents and brother
heya!
omigosh what a hectic couple of days! when we got to delhi (a month ago when we flew in) there were bombings in two different movie theaters b/c of a Sikh movie that is very controversial. of course we didn't post about it b/c people would just worry. so a month goes by and we find ourselves in delhi for a night and day b/t dharamsala and varanasi. we met with angel and had coffee and then arielle and i went to get movie tickets to see "mr. and mrs. smith". when we got there, though, we had to go check our bags and cameras, and when we went in we went through metal detectors and had a small indian woman frisk me before we could even get into the theatre, and then we have assigned seats and had an usher-nazi with a flashlight sit us down. and THEN there was an intermission halfway through - talk about breaking the continuity of the movie!
before that we'd eaten lunch at an "irish sandwhich place" which
was not irish in the least and where we bought a bottle of water.... that cost 103 ruppees!!! yeah, evian water. fucking brand names. a normal bottle of water costs 10-15 RS. 100 RS is like over $2.
then we went to the train station that night for our 20:40 train to varanasi that was a 12 ride. we have yet to figure out how to see what track our train is on, so we went and asked the information desk. he waved toward track one. so we waited. thank god we were listening to the intercom that announces train arrivals and departures b/c at 20:35 we heard that our train was leaving from track 8. we literally RAN down the track, up the stairs, over the other tracks, and down to platform 8 -- sprinting with our huge backpacks and sandals --- the two white girls laughing and SPRINTING back and forth trying to figure out what car we were supposed to be in. finally as the train was pulling away we just gave up and jumped into a car. it was like a movie - the guy grabbing our hands and helping us hop onto the moving
train as everyone else on the platform watched. thank god we were laughing about it the whole time! i couldn't stop cracking up! eventually ended up in our right seats - took the top bunks where we didn't have enough room to sit up. sweating profusely, then freezing b/c of air conditioning. long night (but not as long as the 12 bus ride down the mountainside from dharamsala to delhi the other night!)
aaaanyway, now we're in the city of varanasi. it's the holiest hindu city, on the ganga (ganges river). i love this town. we're staying in the old city and there are just little allies (sp?) and brick walkways and NO ROOM FOR CARS OR AUTORICKSHAWS THANK GOD. walking in this country is so hazardous b/c you're almost always getting run over. we're constantly grabbing the other one and pulling her out of the way of the bicycle/motorcycle/car/autorickshaw that's about to take off her foot. here, there's only room for some bikes and mopeds. and lots of cows. we like to follow the old men with canes who yell at the cows and make them move to the side of the tiny streets.
we went on
holy cows!
lying next to the ganga [ganges] river at the bottom of the ghats [steps] a boat ride yesterday up and down the river where we could see all of the temples and the cremation grounds. along the river there's a place where there are bonfires burning 24 hrs a day and where people are constantly being cremated and their ashes dumped into the ganga. the bodies are wrapped in orange silk and just lay there, in groups, waiting for a fire to be ready. last night we were following a man who was taking us to a silk shop and a procession carrying a body on a stretcher (wrapped in orange silk again) came by with the family singing and parading it toward the river passed by.
the smell of incense and fire pervades this blessed hot city on the sacred river. we stayed at a huge hotel last night and are at a different one today with a corner room and 3 big windows and a balcony. an "air cooler" and a tv. 300 RS. we love the high speed internet and the light blue/green walls and the LIGHT and the cross-breeze. the two computers here in the "internet cafe" at the hotel are wonderful and michael jackson is pounding out of
the speakers. arielle is in heaven and i have to admit, i like hearing some american music myself.
we dine on fresh fruit salads every morning. they cost less than a $1.
not sure how long we're going to stay here. in the city for a couple of weeks probably. not sure how long in this guest house though.
okay, so to the point of the email. happy father's day!!! i might try and call tonight. we're 10.5 hours ahead of you guys, so it's like 13:00 here and early early morning there. also, a woman from the newspaper contacted me so i'm sure she'll be emailing me with questions.
i hope all is well down there. do you guys have any desire for silk bedsheets/bedcovers/pillowcases? because they're wicked cheap here and i think i'm going to get myself some for the future apartment. beautiful gorgeous silk in this city (what it's known for .. besides the hindu holy site). please let me know - i've seen things that would look good (rich green and gold!) but if you don't want/need then let me know.
okay, probably just going to copy this email to xanga
b/c i don't want to retype it all.
much much love to you all from varanasi!
-molly
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