trip to Varanasi

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It's 8:40AM in Varanasi and we are waiting for our rooms to become available. We arrived by train at 6:30AM from Agra. My camera cable is packed in my luggage so I don't have any pictures to upload now but I took some good ones. Yesterday's sunrise over the Taj Mahal was breathtaking. You have to be there to experience it. Pictures do not do it justice. We also saw Akbar's red fort yesterday and his 40 acre tomb with deer and antelope. Palace included separate grounds and courtyards for each of his 4 wives (each of a different religion) and a large area for his 12,000 concubines. unbelievable!

Last night we took a sleeper train. It was a large train station but a narrow road conjested road leading to it. The train station itself was full of rats running along the tracks and thousands of starlings in the rafters. We were told to pay close attention to our luggage and stuff since theives and pick pockets are very common there. The sleeper was full but I slept fairly well after a long day.

Today, we go to a Buddhist site this afternoon and in the evening go to the ghats on the Ganges for puja. The roads to it are so narrow that we will need to take bicylce rickshaws for the last 4 miles. Should be interesting. This is a completely different world! Tomorrow we have two boat rides on the Ganges. One for sunrise and a longer one in the afternoon to see the ghats and villages.

Lots of poverty here. Our hotels have been very nice even by American standards but the world changes quickly outside.
Time to check in.

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Comments

[Linda Gauvin]

Puja
This certainly sounds like the India that I imagined. I bet the Taj was beautiful. And the boat rides sound really special. Enjoy ... And be safe. Namaste

[Lee and Joann]

Blessings
While you are in Varanasi, get some excellent blessings for yourself at puja and in the temples. Also, if you think of it, pass on some blessings to your friends back home! How about a yagya or two? In any case, we eagerly await the pix from this holy place.