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Poo offering to the gods on a monster scale.  
   

Poo offering to the gods on a monster scale.

Life and Death for all to see. Varanasi.

November 15th 2014
Current Mood: Overwhelmed. From the Train of Doom to a River of Belief Varanasi was as every bit shocking as I had imagined it to be. It was also one of the most colourful places in the world that I have ever been. After wobbling from the train with extreme exhaustion and poor Casey following in the worst condition anybody could be, we finally got a rickshaw to drop us at the Ganges and it wasnâ ... read more
Asia » India » Uttar Pradesh » Varanasi

Indian Flag The Indus Valley civilization, one of the oldest in the world, dates back at least 5,000 years. Aryan tribes from the northwest invaded about 1500 B.C.; their merger with the earlier Dravidian inhabitants created the classical Indian culture. Arab in... ... read more
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4th December 2014

Not a swimmer?
Another fascinating blog Niki. Enlightening and absorbing. On a lighter note I note you're not a swimmer! Maybe in Byron Bay you can remedy that. If in Sydney give me a bell.
4th December 2014

Cheers mate
a small edit to the main burning ghat story. very funny account of swimming in the river that i realised i had forgotton. here it is Once The Body has been fully cremated any remains are then wrapped in cloth and cast into the river. The real sad thing is some families cannot afford the wood for the cremation so instead of Burning the body, the body is weighted down and sunk to the bed of the river. Frighteningly funny, a taxi driver, that I asked if he swims in the river, explained that four years prior to the now he used to swim but he had a very unfortunate incident. In an Indian accent the whole story was shocking but hilarious. As he did every day he would go down to the river for his bathing ceremony. Dip dip dip, glug glug spit, then he would add a running dive and swim for his daily exercise. You have all seen signs at swimming spots for submerged rocks hahaha… the poor bastard dived in and got caught by a dead body and on realising what it was he flew from the water in shock and ended up in hospital for four days. When he came out of his trance he vowed never to swim in the river again.

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