Just another day in Varanasi

I told you my sister was smart, she had it all figured out down to the details. I did go out to Sarnath, the "birthplace" of Buddhism on January 7th. We had a wonderful guided tour by a most charming man. Did we know that His Holiness the Dalai Lama was coming tomorrow - well no, but would it be possible to attend? Why yes, this is India, where everything is possible.















So, we arranged taxis for the next day, had to go through a bit of a hastle with passport photocopies and pictures, but after an hour we had a pass, and were in to witness HHness. We only had one English translator between 4 of us, but it did not matter. The point was we were there witnessing something wonderful. The few foreigners who were there had travelled across the globe to see him, and we had just dropped in on a whim - strange. But better still, virtually all the people attending were Tibetan, including gaggles of monks! Unfortunately, we did not stay too long, as the rest of the group had to get back to the hotel to pack, and head out to Delhi.

Oh, I don't think I have told you yet, I have booked another GAP trip to tour Eastern and Southern India. I start from Calcutta in a week, so have just booked an overnight train on Sunday. Details of the trip are at:

http://www.gapadventures.com/tour/AHCJ

Anyway, back to my day in Varanasi. I wandered down to the ghats in the early afternoon, and witnessed four bodies being burned by the Ganges. I know it sounds a bit morbid, but to be here and see it is amazing. The weird thing is all these cows, goats and dogs are wandering around, making it quite unlike one of our funerals.

At the site where the bodies were being burned, some drummers and a holy man of some type (he was dressed kinda weird) started drumming and chanting. Again, you could not plan such a thing, it just seems to happen here. Smoke filled the air, bodies burned, cows wandered, little children scampered about, teenagers tried to sell you postcards, people bathed, boats floated by... life itself, in Varanasi.

On the way back to the hotel, I decided to walk, rather than take the usual bicycle rickshaw. It turned out to be a good idea, as I got to a point where all traffic was being diverted. The reason for the diversion was that it was the Muslim holiday Ashura (I think), and there were big processions along the main street. Since I was walking, I caught up to the crowds, and found myself right in the middle of the festival. Again, you could not have planned this....

I came across a bunch of guys all dressed in black, chanting loudly and beating their chests. This was to be outdone in a few minutes by a large group of bare-chested men beating their backs with some sort of devices. I was close enough to get blood spattered on me (don't worry, I didn't). Like everything on this trip, I only wish I had video, so I could convey the feeling of the place to you.

After that, it was back to the hotel to see my group off in cabs, heading for another overnight train adventure.

Mine begins on Sunday, meanwhile, I think I'll hang out in this most amazing place.

Namaste, readers.