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Published: September 25th 2008
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Well we made it to Varanasi without any train troubles! The Agra train station is supposedly the station in India with the highest crime rate so we really had to watch our stuff. One of the Intrepid tours had a bag stolen about a month ago and a tour leader got stabbed in the stomach. We were okay though. But it was really scary! There were a lot of shady looking people and a bunch of them wanted to be our "porters" and "carry" our bags for us, aka run off with them. We had to wait there for almost an hour for our train and we were surrounded by men and rats that weren't afraid of humans. Not as much of a crowd as the Delhi station though...
So our last day in Agra, Anita, Ana, and I went to Akbar's Masoleum. It was about 40 minutes away from our hotel by tuk-tuk on the outskirts of Agra. The building was red sandstone and marble and was pretty neat. The outside of course was the best part and the entry gate was amazing as well! Red with carvings in white. There were also big grounds. Lots of trees and
grass and deer. After seeing the masoleum we relaxed on the grass for a while. It was nice to get away from the dust and horns of the city for a while. Just what we needed!
I wouldn't be able to live in an Indian city! It's so hectic! The constant dust and horns and people everywhere; it's so chaotic, it stresses me out! I'm getting tired of walking out the door and immediately be covered in a layer of grime! In the evenings we can literally wipe our fingers on our arm and they turn black. I love India but it's definitely a country that you have to do in spurts. 3 weeks will be long enough! I would love to go to a rural area and volunteer in an orphanage or something and live with a family like we did in Nepal, I could last longer that way, but for this constant travelling that we're doing, mostly in cities, 3 weeks is enough. I definitely want to come back though, see some of the stuff that we missed and go to the south!
Yesterday we arrived in Varanasi, the holiest city for Hindus, on the banks
of the River Ganga (aka Ganges). Our hotel (Hotel Temple on the Ganges) is right next to the river. From the roof we have a nice view of it. The hotel is alright, not the best one we've been at, but better than the one in Agra. The banana lassis are quite good here, the chai not so much. After lunch we all went on a walk along the ghats (the steps leading into the Ganges). There were some people bathing in the river, but not as many as I expected. There were also some people being cremated. It was really muddy everywhere because the river recently flooded so there were people trying to wash the mud off the steps back into the river. I think to truly appreciate Varanasi you have to be Hindu, or else a really spiritual person. Not necessarily religious, just spiritual. For me a short walk along the ghats was enough, I didn't need to spend hours wandering up and down them. Tomorrow night we're doing an evening boat ride which should be nice!
The Ganges is much lower than it used to be! We saw a tower that had the water levels marked for
different years. In 1939 it was about 40 feet higher than it is today! We also saw the water purification center. The water from the Ganges is purified and used as tap water in Varanasi. For the most part I've been using the water purifier that I brought along rather than buying bottled water (cheaper and better for the environment! No wasting plastic bottles! Everyone should use water purifiers instead!) but here I will be buying bottled water. Even if it's purified I don't feel comfortable drinking it. Lots of chemicals are dumped in the river by factories as well as ashes of the people cremated and people bathing in it. It just doesn't feel right.
One surprising thing that we saw walking along the river: There was human waste along the steps, a change from the normal cow crap that is all over the streets. If it's a holy river, why do people go to the bathroom right next to it? Kind of confusing...
Last night for dinner we went to a restaurant that had Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food. The falafel, hummus, and pita bread was AMAZING! I love falafel so it was a good change from Indian.
This morning for breakfast we went to a little cafe, Open Hand Cafe, run by an English couple. It's really cute and has a nice atmosphere. It doubles as a textile shop so there are nice quilts, scarves, and curtains decorating the walls. There were even couches to sit on and it was really clean! A nice place to have a relaxing breakfast. And their chocolate chip banana muffins were superb! Warm and delicious!
After breakfast some of us went to the university, the largest Hindu University in India. Universities are always calmer places than the cities that they're in, no matter what country it is. There were nice trees and less beeping of horns. On campus we went to the Bharat Kala Bhavan Museum. It had lots of paintings, sculptures, terracotta, coins, and rare jewellery. Some of the more rare precious items were in a high-security gallery that is only open certain hours of the day. They, of course, were the most impressive. Everything needed more explanations though!
Now I'm at an internet place that only charges 10 rupees per hour!!! (Less than 25 cents - usually it's around 30 rupees per hour). This evening we have our boat ride and tomorrow we're going to Sarnath, an ancient city right outside of Varanasi, the birthplace of Buddhism where Buddha gave his first sermon in 528 BC. My dad also gets to Varanasi tomorrow so I'm going to try to find him. His hotel (the only luxury one on the river - why does he get fancy hotels??) is right next to mine so I'm going to leave a note for him at reception and try to find him in the morning. We'll see though... I might have to wait until Kolkata to see him and he might have stuff planned for tomorrow anyway... Hopefully I can at least meet him for dinner!
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