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Published: January 5th 2009
Varanasi
The view from our hotel window!Hello again! Firstly, thank you for all the lovely mesages (and the message from Adam...), they are all very much appreciated so keep them coming! We have tried phoning home a couple of times but the time difference is proving tricky....for anyone interested, to know the time here, just turn your watch or clock upside down (NB: This DOES NOT Work on a digital clock...). Anyway, heres our updates:
2nd January 2009
After catching our train from Agra at 2200 the night before, we arrived at Varanasi Train Station at 1200 the following day - a mere 6 hours late. Not bad. Not sure we've mentioned the weather here yet, which explains all the delays. Apparently India is experiencing its worst fog for years, which is causing havoc on the already erratic travel system.
So as we arived later than planned, we found ourselves a nice hotel right on the Ganges River, India's Holiest river, and pretty much chilled for the rest of the day, just having as gentle a walk as is possible in India. One thing you quickly learn here is that you are never more then 5 footsteps away from a conversation! We travelled with a really
Varanasi
On our early morning boat trip along the Ganges. nice couple from Turkey - Amy and Turgay, and they stayed in the room next to ours.
3rd January 2009
Today we woke up at 0620am for an early morning boat trip along the Ganges. This was amazing, eerie, shocking in equal measure. The fog was thick, with around 20m visibility at first, but it cleared as we travelled. We passed all the main Ghats, which are areas where Hindus wash in this Holy river (including the Burning Ghats, where Hindus come to cremate their loved ones). Its an amazing sight, especially when you consider what is in the river....
The most harrowing part was when Daniel took charge of the oars though...he perfected the art of going in a perfect circle....
After the boat trip, we wandered aimlessly, eating and chatting with people. In the evening, we visited Dasaswamedh Ghat to watch the Ganga Aarti which is the ceremony performed every evening to honour the river, made up of chanting, fire, dancing and LOTS of bell ringing!!!
We finished today watching a sitar player as we ate.
4th January 2009
Today was another quite laid back day. We found a nice little restaurant to chill in for
Varanasi
Daniel getting mocked by the boat man! most of the morning while the fog settled, then went bartering in the market for a blanket each.
In the evening, we took another, shorter, boat trip along the Ganges. We just missed sunset, but it was almost another world compared to the early morning. We met a cool Mexican guy on our boat, who lives in San Francisco, so we're making ties all over the world already (we have email addresses of friends in Istanbul and Russia too!)!
Hope everyone is well, and not working too hard. As we said, keep the messages coming - don't be offended if you don't hear back from us straight away!
Love and miss you all
D and H
xxx
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Butch & Lucy
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Duck to Water
Keep the pics coming kids, we are living the indian dream with you from the comfort of our sofa :-) Sounds like you are having a great time, where's my postcard? It's like minus 75 degrees (with a dusting of snow) here! xx