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Helllooo! As we drove into the city we were met with cow pats being dried along every available wall – they then use them as fuel! (See the photos!!) Varanasi was a real eye opener; We didn’t expect to actually be able to see the people burning on the wood piles – 350 cremations every day (!!!) – With feet out of one end, head sticking out of the other!! The craziest thing is that everyone uses the Ganges for washing, drinking, cleaning and burning (!) As they believe it’s holy they cannot understand that it’s dirty – trust me you wouldn’t even want to put a toe in it! We spent some time walking along the Ghats, just watching daily life – there was a snake charmer that Cam took a photo of & then paid him - as you should (!) but apparently it wasn’t enough so we were all literally told to ‘get lost’ as what we had given was offensive!! 10 minutes later we saw him do the same stunt to some other unsuspecting westerners – they know all the tricks of the trade!!! We were pestered by a man selling ‘s***’ scarves – he made us all laugh so much as he couldn’t say silk we had to look in his shop & buy some – again a clever hawker!! I thought the only down side 2 the place, that it was full of ‘real travelers’ all coming to India ‘to find themselves’ and help the poor children… All a load of b******s if you ask me, once they’d made themselves feel better for the day you got 2c them going back 2 there posh hotels that daddy was paying for and getting s***-faced.! That’s my moan over, heee! That evening we sailed along the Ghats with a sitar player and drums serenading us! We took part in a flower and candle ceremony where we made wishes, remembered people we missed and sailed small leaves with candles and flowers off the boat… very beautiful! Along the river there was a big Buddhist ceremony with monks ringing bells, lighting incense and chanting, there were fireworks too, one of which exploded into the crowd – they have no idea about health & safety here!! Perfect end to being in India… Off to Nepal tomorrow… Country Number Two… x Carl & Bec’s x
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