Andrew is Blessed!

---

11th January 2007

Well, it is only 7:30am but already it has been an action-packed day! We were up at 5:30am, or should I say, I was up at 5:30am and Andrew was up at 6:00am, for a sunrise boat ride down the Ganges.

The moment we stepped out of the hotel, we were surrounded by about half a dozen men wanting to take us to the particular boat with which they had a commission agreement. Unfortunately being hassled is the main downside to otherwise beautiful Varanasi. To anyone reading this who may be planning on traveling to Varanasi, I would definitely recommend bargaining hard because you should only pay about 100 - 150 rupees for your own private boat for an hour, and yet they will start at the inflated price of 600 - 700 rupees.

Before I explain to you how Andrew was blessed, I would like to give you some background information on the Ganges. This information is from Wikipedia. The Ganges River is 2,510kms long and approximately 1 in every 12 humans on earth, that is, 8.5% of the world’s population, lives in the catchment area of this river. It is estimated that 1 billion with a ‘b’ litres of untreated raw sewerage is dumped in the river each day. Furthermore, industry dumps tonnes of waste into the river, including chromium from the leather industry.

However, the river is very sacred to the Hindus and all along the river people swim in it. Anyhow, I suppose you have now guessed how Andrew was blessed! As our boat rower was trying to wiggle our boat out from amongst the dozens of others, his oar splashed in the water and covered Andrew’s face and jacket with Ganges sacred water! The look on his face was absolutely priceless! I quickly said did any go in your mouth, did any go in your mouth, did any go in your mouth, and he said no, no, no, and then I got the giggles because he was so outraged! It was just so funny.

Anyhow we had a lovely trip floating down the river, although it was quite chilly. And now I am back at the hotel - Andrew has gone back to bed but I think I will eat some breakfast! Tonight at 10:50pm we are catching a 12-hour train from Varanasi to Darjeeling, where we will then be for three nights. Then we have a 27-hour train from Darjeeling to Delhi.

---

Photos

Cycle Rickshaws, Varanasi
Lauren and Cliffy live it up while the poor rickshaw walla does all the hard work!

Comments

[Ian M]

the river
>>It is estimated that 1 billion with a ‘b’ litres of untreated raw sewerage is dumped in the river each day.<< --Hey, if it works for 500million people, it can't be wrong.