He dreamed that he stood in a shadowy court...

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And the Snark with a glass in its eye, dressed in gown, bands and wig, was defending a pig on the charge of deserting its sty...

I've had very strange dreams on this trip so far. Most about home, New Zealand, my dog, various friends and one or two about girls from the past. I've found some of them quite hard to deal with and process, they keep reminding me about home. The lush green hills, the wide open spaces, being able to wander off into the bush and not see anyone all day. As much as I am enjoying the adventure I am also thoroughly missing my hills and mountains back home.



Its hot. Very hot. I mention this to Isaac. "Hmm? Its a bit warm but not that bad." Damit. Fever. Was hoping it was just the heat and car sickness from the barreling jeep ride down from the hills of Darjeeling. I'd been feeling a bit off on the train aswell, but had just put that down to a headache from the constant sounding of the trains horn. It doesn't feel bad but it could mean trouble.



Stomach cramps. Not too bad. They only come when I stand up/sit down/lean forward/backward/roll over in my sleep/do anything. Some of them quite crippling, all I can do is stop and hold my belly.

We spent that night in a rather aweful hotel in New Jalpaiguri. Only Rs250 per night for both of us (about $6 NZ) but having some sort of party and shouting kick off at 9pm and go till midnight while being eaten alive by sandflies and mosquitos AND having mild food poisoning was one I would rather just forget than 'put down to experience'. Itwas quite a pleasure to head off to Varenasi the next morning.

We only have one day here really, but it has brought back somuch, and I'm feeling quite emotional. Some of my strongest memories of Dawn on our previous trip were here, especially at the burning ghats. This is where bodies are blessed, burned on the riverside and then given back to mother Gange. I don't think Isaac likes it much at all. But it reminds me of how univolved we are in so many things back home. In western culture we seldom look after the body of a deceased loved one ourselves, and many of the processes that take place are done by others, out of sight. I'm not saying this is a bad thing nessecerily, just very different. In the culture here, the family takes care of almost everything, from start to finish. The enbalming, the dressing, the transport to the ghats, then the burning and finally passing the remains to the river. However, only the men are present at the burning, so there ya go. Another big difference.



We met a young guy, Babu, who offered to take us to a couple of spots around the city and for tea at his home. We accepted and this turned out to be the best thing we could have done. We learned alot about Indian silks and oils, about the buring ghats, even visited the karma sutra temple at one point. I though he'd miss pronounced it at first and didn't realise quite where we were going, but itwas certainly eye opening. We finished the day with a ceremony on the river which was nice to watch for a bit, but we were both pretty knackered and soon headed back to the hotel.

One small thing I found in Varenasi, but which I was totally stoked with, was a small tile mosaic graffiti by Space Invader, a very famous graffiti artist and I'll put up a picture when I can. Doesn't matter where yago, someones always throwin up their scribble.

I'm also losing some weight through this stomach bug. Having my stomach constantlytry to, well, purge, alongwith iregular meals (sometimes one a day due to traveling) and then huge meals when we do, my cramps are also pretty bad.

Well, time is almost up, only got 5 minutes left so this will have to be all for now, but I'll write again when I can, and hopefully text a few people when I'm back in Kolkatta. My phone doesn't seem to be working in Uttar Pradesh.



Traveller out.

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Comments

[Mark Wilson]

Great update Ben
Sorry to hear about the bot but it sounds like you are makng the most of the exploring and learning opportunities anyway. God bless Dad