One week in India and still kicking!! Boy oh boy. As much as I would like to go city by city here...and give you the highlights, the lowlights and tell you all about the flickering lights. However...I just don't think I am in the "best blogger mode" I can be. Also, it might be more fun to tell some of these stories with pictures....just wait until the end of May, for those of you who have been loyal readers to the blog you will have lots to keep you busy! I promise!
We have been in three Cities...Kolkata, Darjeeling, and Varanasi and headed to Agra to see the Taj on the 16th.
I write to you from one of the oldest cities in the world and the most holy in Hinduism, Varanasi. I will just say this city has character and characters. With in the first 15 hours we saw 3 funeral processions down to the Ganges. It is on the river banks where they have public cremations....and it just so happens our guest house is just a hop, skip and a jump from "the burning place' where most of the cremations take place. Families are carrying their loved ones down to the river...usually just wrapped in cloth...sometimes decorated with flowers..paint...and some other things I am not quite sure what they are though.
There is a whole process and it has been explained to us, I think 2 times, but there are still some holes in the whole picture because lack of communication. The last thing I would want to do is but false information up here or get it all wrong...so let me just try to piece it together...or we all could just Google it.
This city is pretty crazy. Cows, dogs, monkeys, pigs, rabbits....you name it, it lives here. I can't tell you how many cow pies I have stepped in....the flies are just the worst, especially in the heat of the day. Just gross.
There are large moments of being overwhelmed. The smells, the stares, the cockroaches, the rats, the poverty, bodies, lots of getting lost and turned around, not knowing if what you put in your mouth is going to turn on you and have you curled over for hours...but your just so tired and hungry you take the chance! I am not even getting across all of the emotions we have all felt this past week. Like Brian and I discussed on the roof top of a 200 year old building (one of the buildings in her prime compared to the rest of the city) last night...this is an experience. We can't say that we are having the times of our lives or any one part of the trip as been extremely, over the top enjoyable...it has just been seriously new experiences.
Yesterday I climbed from the roof of our guest house over to a larger buildings roof top...just like the monkeys do...and watched two boys fly kites. I did not really get it..but as the evening went on and the sunset behind the city...I learned they are not just flying kites...but kite fighting. I have a lesson...rooftop 5PM sharp tonight for my first lesson. I have to remember to bring my slingshot and stick though to scare off the monkeys..I wish I was joking!
Aw I have so many other stories I want to share but I need some food....maybe I will spend some time later tonight on the blog! Try this....you can kinda see what we are dealing with....haha!
I didn't see any SUV's parked along the streets. They must be in the underground parking garages! India sounds very cool for the adventurer in you. Can't wait to see the pics and hear the details. I am glad you are seeing more than the tourist sights--keep plugging along, I am confident you will not regret it. Hope to skype soon--be safe and enjoy! Love, DOTP
ReplyDeleteDid you know that I will be your travel sidekick in less than 3 months? Be safe, my little wanderer!
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