Bhang Lassi & Boat Ride

---

Day 9 Sunday 10^th December



Bhang Lassi & Boat Ride



Late start for me as have picked up a chest infection! Both kids have mild Delhi-Belly, Esmee being much chirpier today and with an appetite again, Rocco is eating and complaining occassionally about tummy ache. Shirl has cough with infection, but not often. Mal still has lip problems, cold sore. Bill is escaping - so far….



I sorted out a problem we had (after breakfast) as we are due to leave here on 12^th and move to another hotel for 13^th, as Agoda said this hotel was fully booked that day. But after a quiet word with the manager he said we could stay an extra night. Its £14 each but saves wasting a day by moving hotels.



He also arranged 2 boat rides for us (although Mal won’t get on a boat – the wimp); one at 5.20pm and another at 6am. With all that arranged, I went off with Mal to find the Blue Lassi Shop, whilst the Reedies went down to the Ghatts as Shirl & Esmee hadn’t been down there yet.



Found an ATM for Mal but she wants to draw more cash out than that, so find a Bank. Guy on the bank steps says it is closed Sunday and tells us that tomorrow is a Bank Holiday so will be closed then too. We head off for the Blue Lassi Shop but find a large crowd waiting to get in.



So we wander past it and find a Government Authorised Bhang outlet where you can buy the Bhang that goes into a Bhang Lassi (Bhang being a mixture of cannabis leaf and sugar mostly) We decide to buy some Bhang chocolates and then head for a chai shop to wash it down. As I’m eating mine I find large bits of glass in my chocolate, I spit them out and warn Mal who finds them in hers too. After drinking the chai we head back to the Bhang stall to complain. An older man who spoke good English explained that it was sugar, not glass in the chocolates, translating for the stall man, who took a bit of “glass” and crunched it with his teeth. Very large sugar crystals, that’s my excuse.



We head back to the Blue Lassi shop, & eventually get coconut chocolate lassi (he gave me a pen & paper to write my own order but I forgot to write “Bhang” Lassi – very nice, but no bhang. For the hour or so we were in this alley about 10 bodies were carried past us, covered with beautiful golden cloths and supported by 2 bamboo poles. Each body was accompanied by a group of men all chanting.



Then we wandered back to our Hotel, trying to find Mals elusive incence - the only one she wants. Thought we had it for a while, but only the manufacturer, not the flavour required….



Back to hotel, meet others who had had a good walk along the ghatts. We all take it easy, going for snacks on the roof where large viscious monkeys were running about to the delight of the kids & horror of us adults. One even did a poo from the roof to within a few yards from us. Eventually they were chased off by waiters with long sticks. We saw lots of kites, about 30-40 could be seen in the sky.



At 5.20pm the Reedies & me meet a guy in reception who takes us down the ghatt steps to his boat (Mal gets sick on boats). He makes us sit at the front whilst he rows from the back using bamboo poles with bits of flat wood tied to the ends. We go down to the burning ghatts nearby (for men who died naturally) and are allowed to film from the boat despite the ghoulish connotations, I just filmed the fires and did not zoom in on corpses. These were probably the ones that Mal & I had seen near Blue Lassi earlier.



Then we rowed upstream being accosted by a guy selling candles on paper plates along with flowers and, in a small tub, red powder-dye. We got 5 of these although only wanting 2 for the kids (Rs100 each) and lower them into the Gangies to float along with the many others there. It’s getting dark now and we head further to the Dashashwarnedh Ghatt and join a crowd of boats gathered to witness the Ganga Aarti Ceremony. A group of 5 lads who in unison played drums, waved incense, blew conches, and waved tall pyramids of small candles around before finally waving flaming cobras about (metal I think). This was the ceremony that imbued the candle flames with the spirit of Ganaga Mai (the Goddess of the Gangies) into the flames so that people could wash themselves in this spirit from the flames. Then we rowed back (Esmee taking one oar) to the start again and climbed the steps back to our hotel. I got an early night but knew that the 6am boat trip was not likely for me (chest really tight).



There is an Islamic festival going on tonight, lots of fireworks which look very pretty above this old city.

---