Blogs from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia - page 11

Remember when I said we'd talk more about security? Well, let's do that now. Airports in India are even more security conscious than NYC ones. You can't get into the terminal without showing ID to friendly Indian Army dudes. Then your luggage is X-rayed and tagged. THEN you finally get to check in to get your boarding pass and seat assignment. And don't forget to put a tag on your carry-on luggage. You don't have to write anything on it, but you'll need it later. Oh, and regarding carry-on.... Don't put your extra camera batteries in your carry-on, apparently they don't like them here. Once you're checked in, it's off to security. Gents on one line, ladies on another. Why? Because everybody gets wanded and frisked, but us ladies get to be groped in private. At ... read more

Hey... Sorry for the delay, but we had a long day in Delhi and I wasn't realy up to going back to the basement internet cafe near the hotel there, and didn't realize there was a free business center in the hotel in Varanasi.... I'm doing this from memory, so if it'll be an overview, and if I miss something, i'll come back to it when I can.... First thing in Delhi was a visit to Humayan's tomb. It was builtfor the 2nd Mughal emperor by his wife. it was originally intened to hold only him, but now holds 100 or so bodies. I walked around it, while Haviva walked up the stairs to the roof. After that we went to the Iqtub (okay, that's the wrong spelling) minaret which is really tall, and surrounded by ... read more

The familiar tune of my alarm clock rang at 5:15 this morning, just like most of the tourists in Varanasi. The day starts early here, especially if you want to watch the sunrise from a boat on the Ganges. So a bunch of us gathered at the hotel reception to board a boat that would leave at 6:00AM: there were two girls from Utah and a family visiting from Delhi. We boarded at the ghat beneath our hotel walking past people doing their morning bathing rituals. A tourist also wanted to try it: she treaded carefully into the water, probably sinking her feet into inches of goo and mud and when she built enough strength, dunked her head into the holy water. She raced out and back into the hotel, followed by curious onlookers admiring both ... read more

So what about India, then? I suppose I should squeeze her in on my dance card, and not before time to be honest. Indira Gandhi once said of Mother India she cannot understand how one can be an Indian and not be proud. It's great to finally arrive in Incredible India; a country that will shock, titillate, enthral and enrage in equal measure. To gain an understanding of India one must compress the concept of a close call by a factor of ten. Two guys being knocked by a bus, but not knocked down. A guy being sideswiped by a car's side mirror, a guy having his foot run over by a motorbike. There's no real harm done, but that's an Indian close call. When you have over one billion people in a country there's no ... read more

To find the Burning Ghat walking through the intricate web of Varanasi's alleyways we followed the pungent smell of burning flesh, and the odd whisp of smoke floating over the cow houses and temples that lined Varanasi's streets. Olivia and Jamie (I had already been) were very eager to visit Varanasi's main attraction after the Footprint pages (Olivia is also a wiki-aholic) painted such an exotic image of colourful funeral processions and load chanting of cremation prayers. Varanasi is experiencing high water levels at present which means the river is empty of boats due to the ferocious rip tide. As such the ghats are still recovering from flooding with temples partly under water and flip flops embeded in the muddy path ways coming to and from the waters edge. To experience the Burning Ghat you need ... read more