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We took our last Indian train to the holy city of Varanasi. It was about a 14 hour journey but we were able to get a bit of sleep which was good. We checked into our hotel, had a shower and some breakfast and then caught an auto rikshaw to go to the ghats...or so we thought. Our driver proceeded to take us on a sightseeing tour which ended with us in a "Muhgal village" where we got to see them weaving silk fabrics. The end of this "tour" had us sitting on the floor in the showroom while they proceeded to show us some finished products for sale. Needless to say, Jen wasn't very happy by this point and we politely said we weren't interested and headed on our way. We went for lunch, one of our last Indian meals, and then finally made our way to the Ganges and the ghats. The ghats were not very busy at all which is unusual, except for the fact that there was a bomb attack here a couple of days ago...yes, you heard me right, a bomb. Apparently it was during the nightly Ganga Arati ceremony that one of three bombs that were planted at the main ghat went off. A number of people were injured and a 4 year old boy was killed. It could have been a lot worse, but still very tragic. But life goes on here so there were still people bathing (themselves and their water buffalo) in the river, performing puja, and kids everywhere flying their kites. We then caught a boat and took a leisurely row (for us, not the boy rowing the boat) up the river. We went by one of the burning ghats where cremations are performed, which was "different" to see. Like Jen said...not even funerals are private in India. After our boat ride we stopped and saw the Ganga Arati ceremony, which was pretty interesting...music, fire, and incense. After it was over we took a cycle rikshaw back to our hotel. Quite the travel day...trains, rikshaws & boats...wasn't there a movie about that? Tomorrow we leave India and head across the border into Nepal.
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