Revenge of the Delhi Belly

View of the ghats at the Ganges River
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One of the best things about India is the killer food; curries, rotis, parantha's, naan, dosa's, thali's, lassi's - it's all delicious, and we are finding we are always excited about searching out and waiting for our next meal.  We have been pretty careful about what and where we eat, especially after seeing firsthand the cleanliness and condition of most Indian facilities.  Having explained that, after 6 days in India it was inevitable that the infamous "Delhi Belly" would take its toll on the tummies - yuck!  Varanasi is probably about as dirty of a city as you could imagine, so it was not a surprise to us to pick up some sort of bacteria and have to suffer on the throne for a few days (well, a 'throne' is hardly a description of the squalor of the squatter toilets most widely used - urine and fecal material sprayed all over the walls and floor of any public facility).  Except when things get critical and you have to resort to a squatting public display of no walls and no holes (ask Sam about his experience, he had it worst than I did! :)  Anyways, we didn't let a little stomachache keep us from seeing and enjoying all the strangeness and wonder of Varanasi.  We enjoyed visiting numerous ghats that stepped down into the Ganges River.  Both sunrise and sunset ceremonies take place in Hindi fashion, celebrating the Holy River and all of its divinities.  We participated, in a friends honor, by releasing some flower and candle offerings and praying for the Padma Organization and peace in Lhasa.  One of the most interesting sights to observe here are the 'burning ghats'.  Locals work here 24/7 keeping an ancient, 2,000 year old fire going, which they use to publicly cremate those lucky enough to pass away in this ancient, holy city.  People from all over the world flock here and wait for their "time" to go.  This is based on the belief that if you die in Varanasi you instantly gain moksha - an end to reincarnation and all your sins are absolved.  Because of this, this densely populated city consists mainly of the old, sick, and dying - it's very sad. Manakarnikiri Ghat, the main burning ghat, is constantly preparing and burning dead bodies.  Those that aren't allowed to be burned (flowers, babies/children, pregnant women, holy men, lepers) get sunk in the middle of the Ganges River.  Having learned this fact, it was even harder for us to watch the hundreds of thousands of locals bathe in the river daily.  On a more superficial level, we did get to do lots of shopping!  Great deals to be had on just about everything and we took full advantage of the bargain shopping!