Hello my lovely friend

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Since last blog I hit the town in Varanasi and stumbled upon the Viskarma pooja festival which celebrates the god of the iron workers and laborers (or at least that's what I understood). During the evening hundreds of young men and boys followed all forms of vehicles with huge stacks of speakers attached to them (and generators to power) and danced to traditional Indian music. Ahead of each soundsystem was a statue of Viskarma. Eventually they made their way down to the Ganges river, said some prayers, and then threw the statues in. It was wild. (I wonder how many statues are at the bottom of the river by now).

Following this I had a final day in Varanasi, and spent the time with my friend Koko cruising around town. We checked out the largest Hindu temple, and had some amazing food including Dosa, Chicken Biryani, and Chicken rolls (basically a fried chapati rolled around chicken, onions and spices). He took me all the way to my train and made sure I was situated before saying goodbye. What a great guy. Thanks Koko!

After my overnight train was 5 hours late, I arrived in Agra Saturday and met my latest companion at the guest house. Brijesh (Tony as he likes to be called) is a friend of a friend of a friend and has been corresponding with me for a couple months. He was eager to receive the gift that I had brought all the way from the USA from my friend Jon (see t-shirt in picture). It reads UR Med School 3-on-3 B-ball champions😊

Tony is a tour guide for the Taj Majal and is super swell and has shown me a great time. We've cruised all around the city on his motorcycle eating great food, meeting his nice friends, visiting the downtown bazaar and huge Hindu temple and played cricked in a park with local kids.

This morning I got to see the Taj Majal. It is magnificient. I won't do it much justice trying to describe it. It was a great finale to a wonderful trip. Afterwards tony picked me up and we cruised 8 miles out of town to his parents home town for a feast. I got to eat an authentic meal with about 15 of his family and to see the town. The big treat was eating Kheer (sweet rice pudding) made from local buffalo milk.

Tomorrow I head back to New Delhi, then fly home with a long stopover in Amsterdam for 10 hours. I'll arrive back in Austin, TX with a few days to recover just in time for the Austin City Limits music festival that starts friday. Hoping everyone is well.

Signing off from Asia.

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Photos

poori
yummy

jalebi
more yum

Cricket with some local kids
I nailed this ball