Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
ello ello
im now in Kolkata. Varanasi was a crazy place but not in the way i expected. its not like delhi was crazy, theres still loads of people, but its not so full on like a city. not by the ganges where we stayed anyway.
its the holiest place in india and its where many people come to die, went for 2 boat rides down the ganges. one in the evenin where i saw over 25 cremations. 20 all on the same ghat (steps leading down to the river). this is literally a bonfire with large logs of wood and a dead body.coz it was dark, looked like the whole place was on fire.was an amazing sight. all the ashes get put into the ganges because of how sacred it is. however, if your a holy man, pregnant woman, under 14....... or died from a snake bite??then you dont get cremated, you just get wrapped up in a white cloth and floated in. hence the two floating bodies that came past with birds sitting on top. wow.
big river worship they do everyday twice a day was brilliant and we all lit candles in leaf bowls and you make a wish and float them down the river from your boat. imagine lots of boats doing this in the dark, burning bodies, river worship all at the same time, it sounds strange coz of the bodies, but its beatiful! i loved it.
people all come and use the gahts to wash morning and evening too, reguardless of bloated dead cows floating just meters away, countless dead people in the river, tons of raw sewage, theyre all swimming in it and splashing around because they believe its the holiest river ever.....i couldnt help but wonder if that has somethin to do with the number of cremations that happen everday........but i thought f*** it and had a paddle anyway :o) (dont let mum read that bit) my group leader was pleased with me and said i was very privaleged to have gone in. this made me happy. the rest of my travelling buddies wouldnt go near it and kept telling me my legs were gonna fall off and id only have stumps like the beggers. this didnt make me happy.
but ive still got my skinny chicken drummers and now im in kolkata. big city, seems alot more together than all the other places ive bin, its almost normal, people dress alot more western, they have cinemas and proper cars, however my tour is now over :o( ive said goodbye to my group who i got realy close with from travelling through such messed up places. and im missing them!!got myself into a backpackers crash house as ive got 2more nights here, then 2more nights in mental delhi again and then i get to go to thailand!
ive loved india and i want to come back and go to the himalayas, ive met some new people at the hostel who are ok, but i feel like im ready to go to a new place now, my freinds have gone and i want to as well, no money left for india, spending about 80p a night for my bed in a room i share with about 10 other people, there are bugs and the toilet scares me but its ok!
hope your all good.
my bowels are definitly open if you reading this john.
take it easy!
O
xxxxx ps posted a very few photos up, ive got soo many awsome ones i wana show you of so many places but i cant figure out how to do it quicker so theres only a few of the very 1st places i went to. hope you like um.
- comments