India = Chaos

Got on the nighttrain from Agra east to Varanasi. The station was a dump (but no where near as scary as Delhi) and our train journey was a whopping 17hours. (It was supposed to be 12!). We slept surprisingly well on the train and we able to watch Indian life trundle by during the day. All very interesting stuff and games of cricket were being played everywhere by any male between 5 and 18.

Why go to Varanasi? The guide books all rave about it. Its one of the oldest cities in India and also the holiest, being on the banks of the sacred River Ganges and supposed home to Hindu God Shiva.

The banks of the Holy, Smelly and Slightly Bizarre River Ganges

Arriving at the hotel was an experience as there are no roads to it. The hotel porter took us through a maze of tiny streets filled with every kind of activity and smell! One minute we were lugging our stuff passed an open restaurant with wafts of spices, the next an open air mens 'pisser'. Passed the odd cow and stray dogs eating rotting vegetables and on to our hotel. (Negotiating adult cows in alleys only 2m across is an experience in itself - you dont spend to much at either end in case of attack or ablution!)

Varanasi isnt the rural backwater we thought. Like everywhere in India its rammed with people, its very noisy, very big and very smelly. (We found out this week the population of India is 1billion - thats 15 Indians for every Brit! Nuts!) The temp is a managable 25degrees. In 3 months time the temps will hit 45-50degrees. I cant think of a place in the world Id want to be less than here in the middle of summer.

Seeing the Ganges was wierd as it is somewhere you see and read so much about. It was not as wide as expected as we arrived after a dry winter and months before the monsoon brings the rains.

Our hotel was clean and cheap, with excellent riverside views. We took a stroll along the banks in the evening. The closest thing to Glastonbury festival outside of Somerset! Sadhus (holy men) gathered naked, with long matted beards, painted white and smoking marajuana (and we were told later - stronger stuff) whilst variaous hawkers tried to separate us from our cash. (Some succeeded!) Nat tried to instill some morals into some young lads who tried to rip us off, I hope she succeeded, but somehow doubt it. Every day, fresh tourists arrive naive to their traps!

Lots of little Indian blokes approaching us and saying "you wan bort?" (which translated to whether we wanted to pay them to take us on their  boat up the river). They were hard to shake off! There was lots of music, chanting and praying to the river from local Hindu holies. We got stuck in, bought some candles, lit them and set them off down the Ganges in little boats made from banana leaves after saying a few words to whoever may be listening upstairs. It was quite a surreal and strangely moving moment.

We witnessed some extreme dedication to the river. Like the rest of India its a total contrast. Its extremely holy, people wash in it, swim in it and even drink it. We saw a dolphin swimming and numerous fish and big birds. Yet the river carries heavy metals from nearby factories, is extremely polluted and is the site for Hindu cremations. We even saw a part burnt body in the river! Eeeww!!

We've seem more westerners here than anywhere else. However, most of them (like at Glastonbury) tend to be of the New Age and rather crusty variety. They think its mind expanding to hang out with Sadhus and 'find themselves', when in fact these holy men (we were told later) are mostly pretentious gits, who are junkies and attention seekers.

We had a full day with a reputable local guide who showed us around the river on a bort, and to a series of Hindi temples and holy sites. We learnt so much about India from Mr Roy (who looked like an Indian version of David Jason from Touch of Frost) and it was probably the highlight of our time here and we have both benefitted as a result.

We are both well. We have been going to bed about 9pm most nights as we seem to have arranged lots of early starts - our usual waking time is between 5:30d 6!

After 2 nights in Varanasi we got a flight to Kathmandu, but I'll save that story for another day. Missing you all today as its my birthday! Thanks for the cards!

Over and out - James