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excerpt from list of Things To Do In India:
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spend some time in Indian hospital...... check!
on the evening of 18th May, i was showing off to Monica about how I had been 3 months in India and not got even a little bit ill.... Lizzie was ill back in Agra, Monica had gotten a bit sick in Pushkar and had to call a doctor (as well as her foot injury), and almost every other traveller we meet has some horror illness story... i was so proud of myself and was looking forward to coming home and casually saying "ill? me?? no, not at all!"
talk about tempting fate, or Shiva or whoever.
the next morning I woke up with every single one of my muscles aching. i felt as though it had been freezing cold and had slept all tensed up, but obviously it was not cold, it was very hot. i thought it would maybe pass and just stayed in bed all morning, i didn't really feel sick or anything but i was really weak and could hardly get out of bed cos of the pain. by early evening when i still hadn't moved from the room, monica persuaded me to come out and eat something. i tried to eat some toast, but the effort of chewing and swallowing was just too much, and when i started crying monica had had enough and insisted we went to hospital.
the hospital was much smaller and grimmer than the ones i've previously been in with Monica and Lizzie, but in terms of cleanliness probably on a par with Hillingdon!
they took my temperature which was 39 and took a blood and stool sample. i won't talk about the stool sample. ever.
anyway, they sent me away and said come back in two hours. by the time the two hours was up i was nauseous and sweating and feeling terrible, so when i got back to the hospital they put me straight into a bed on a drip.
the nurses and doctor (lady) were so bossy! but efficient. when i was crying just cos of feeling sorry myself really, they all gathered round "Don't Cry. You Must Be Strong. It Will Take Longer To Get Better If You Are Weak".
anyway, please don't worry, it was a little bit dramatic, but it's nothing but a perfectly normal bacterial infection. after a few hours on the drip and some hefty painkillers i was much better, although quite weak.
the thing is, we were leaving at 3 in the morning in a taxi for chennai airport, i didn't get back to the room until around midnight and had to pack and try to get three hours sleep....!
Monica was great, really kind and didn't mind if i cried! she even offered to pack for me, but i have a system you see, and would've got a bit stressed if she did it "wrong".
well, the flight to delhi, then varanasi went with no problems. it was interesting at Delhi, because when i arrived into india originally, into the international arrivals, it was really grotty and basic and hectic. however, the domestic terminal is amazing! modern, clean, funky, costa coffee etc etc. Monica even got a pedicure done!
i have been taking it easy, which is quite hard to do in Varanasi... (the lonely planet entry for varanasi begins "Brace Yourself").
actually, it is amazing, i cannot imagine there is anywhere else like it on earth. it's the most holy city in India, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. our room has a balcony overlooking the ganges. we were very pleased with this, until we realised it is next to one of the "burning ghats". this is hard thing to explain about varanasi. basically, if you die, or are cremated in varanasi, you are guaranteed release from the endless cycle of rebirth and reincarnation that is the main point of hinduism (instead of heaven, you stop being reincarnated).
so many people travel here to die, or sometimes families bring the bodies. they are cremated on basic pyres on the banks, in the open, in public, 24 hours a day. but it's not sad, there are no wailing widows. it's all very matter of fact. i mean, it's not very nice, and depending on the wind direction the smell is terrible, but it's very real, very fundamental. and it's by no means the only thing about varanasi. it's probably the busiest place we've been yet (and it's not high season) it's very friendly, there are sadhu's everywhere (we have made a friend of one), people are very friendly and most local people we have met are originally from varanasi, not just working here like in goa etc. although there are many tourists it's not a tourist place, it's very indian, very hindu, the atmosphere is very very special.
everynight there is the Ganga Aarti, a ceremony on the main ghats, where the brahmin (priests) wave candles and incense around, and blow through a conch shell, the river is a traffic jam of boats full of people watching, people light small ghee candles and float them into the river.
all day people are washing, bathing, playing the in river. i considered having a dip, as apparantly it will wash away all previous bad karma. however, i then read that apparantly the safe level of "faecal cloriform bacteria" for bathing is 500 per litre of water, the ganges has 1.5 million! raw sewage is pumped into the river, as well as general litter and not quite fully burned corpses.... so i quickly changed my mind. people even drink the water it is considered so holy. The ganges is considered the mother of the whole world, it really is tremendously important to Hindus.
also, if you get married in varanasi, you will be married to same partner (reincarnated) in your next seven lifetimes, so i would think very carefully before marrying here!!!!
it's impossibly hot, i read 42c, but have been told 46c. however, indians do have a tendency to exagerate and i'm not sure they have a concept of the actual air temperature. somebody told me recently it was 60c in delhi, which i am sure is not possible. but the pilot on landing said 42c so i beleive him. we just do little bits at a time and then rest. looking forward to getting up into the mountains in Himachal Pradesh in a couple of weeks or so.
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anonymous
non-member comment
Glad you got over your illness!