Varanasi

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Hello all 😊

We began today with a boat ride at dawn along the banks of the Ganges. It was a beautiful and profound experience, the sun rising behind the rows of ancient Ghats, smoke and incense rising from the burning bodies. In Hindu culture it is considered a great honour to die in Varanasi as this is believed to end the cycle of reincarnation.
The bodies are covered in gold coth and garlands and doused in incense. Chants and prayers accompany the burning. When the ceremony is over the remains are dropped into the river.
The water is full of the ashes of dead people yet just along the bank it is business as usual for the hoards of people who come here every day to wash in the holy river. And this is not a symbolic bathing ritual either. They dive in and duck under, determined to leave no spot dry and then start about scrubbing themselves vigorously. Eventually they emerge and begin the second process of washing their clothes.They are all chating and arguing and laughing as they do this and look like they are really enjoying themselves. It seems to be a social experience as well as a religious one. This really is a river of life and death and everything in Varanasi revolves around it.
This place is fantastic, it is lively and friendly and inspirational. The people are really good natured and it's not all about the dollar. You can take classes here in everything from sitar to meditation and the markets are great. The vendors here are completely different to Delhi and you can browse a lot more comfortably. We have actually done some Christmas shopping and needless to say it was a damn sight more fun than the usual mania of Castlecourt Christmas Eve!
We found a wee clothes stall and got chatting with the owner. He offered to make us our own stuff and we had made to measure trousers
The people don't stare as much here as there are alot more backpackers but today a rickshaw driver was having a good nosey at us and caused an 8 rickshaw pile up!! It was really comical, the cycle rickshaws don't move very fast so the whole thing kinda happened in slow motion! The kids were in stiches, he was suitably embarrassed and it took a good 15 minutes to distangle the mess.
We also befriended a young chap called Ghila. A street wise kid from Calcutta he kept us company for a bit and we had great craic with him. True, we were a few rupees down after, but you couldn't begrudge this kid anything, he was charm on a stick.
It's a shame to be leaving so soon, we both would love to stay a bit longer but we may come back this way again, who knows?
Tonight we're off down to the Ghats to watch the evening candle meditation and have a head massage. What better way to

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