Last day in Varanasi

Day 16 (1/16)

10am. I've been up for 2 hours working on the computer and I am so hungry I cant stand it any longer…Brenden was still sleeping so I finally asked him if he would like to join me for breakfast which he declined. I headed back to Lotus Lounge on my own to enjoy my new favorite morning feast:) I sat at a low table in the sunshine and journaled as I waited for my food to arrive, taking in all the beauty that surrounded me. One of my favorite pass times being "people watching" I kept my sunglasses on so I could easily observe others without being too "creepy". Being the day dreamer that I am I often first wonder where someone came from, where they might be going, their name and occupation…and then after seeing how they interact with others, how they drink their tea or use silverware, I begin to make up a story for them. As I create a world for strangers to live in i often wonder what people think when they see me. Even just after one glance it seems I begin to wonder about a person…what do people wonder about me? Where do they think I am from, or what I do? How I live and treat the world. I suppose in a way, through my sobriety and the practice of yoga, I am in this constant awareness of what kind of vibration I am sending out into the universe for the world to receive. I truly believe that without exchanging a single word with another being you can still affect how their day might unfold, with a simple smile, or even having happy thoughts creating a happy vibration for all to enjoy:) 

After breakfast I walked around the ghats for a bit. It seemed we had been in a state of constant movement, racing from one tourist attraction to the next, I felt like I hadn't really had the chance to stop, and look around. To really see and even try to understand the ways of this culture, the happenings of their everyday lives. So I just found a place on the ghat, and I sat. I sat and I watched, and enjoyed. I enjoyed watching laundry being washed in the waters of the river, saree's being laid out perfectly along the steps to dry in the sun as a bamboo clothes line was erected to hang the rest. And the people! The barber giving haircuts on the stairs. All of the Indians, the women wrapped up in their beautiful saree's, gathering in the morning sun to bathe in the holy waters of the Ganges. It really is a different world. And I may not understand it, but I love it. I love that these people have somehow found contentment, or so it seems to me. Contentment with what ever they have. Like the brooms. They have these awesome handmade brooms that work rather well, but they have no "long handle" on them. I have watched Indians everywhere I have been so far, hunched over, sweeping, often, many times throughout the day. You have to wonder, why wouldn't they lengthen the handle, to save their back? It's little things like this that cause me to stop and think for a minute…hmmmmm?

The sun became too hot after some time so I found my way back to the guesthouse to shower and get my things packed up. When I got back to the room Brenden was gone so I prepared for a shower…which I had sort of assumed would be at least warm. Well, like my Grandpa used to say~ don't ever assume, because it just makes an ass out of u and me. I got all my toiletries out and ready, turned on the water and waited, and waited, and waited. Ok, I guess it will be a cold shower. Oh well, could be worse. Yes it could…the shower head doesn't work! So there I was, shivering my ass off under the freezing cold water, on my KNEES trying to bathe under the facet! I suppose i should mention to that the "showers" here are rarely enclosed. It's rather a faucet on the wall about naval height, with the hot and cold knobs and a shower head up above. There was also a large bucket with a smaller "hand held" bucket in the bathroom, but I haven't quite figured out what exactly they are for yet! 

After my "refreshing" shower I got all packed up as Brenden reappeared…we decided to go walk around and get a last fix of the alleyways of Varanasi. I was feeling hungry and wanted to eat before we got on our overnight train to Khajuraho. We stopped by Spicy Bites, I was craving some Onion Pakora with spicy ketchup that we had once before and wanted to indulge before we left. Unfortunately the cook was on break and it would take to long for me to have some:( We decided to just order some fried rice at the guesthouse so we headed back there to settle up our bill after we grabbed some snacks for the train. Once Sanju got our bill all figured out we both need to go to an ATM…I knew right where one was…since I had been using it as a landmark to find my way back "home". Naturally, it was out of order! Oh no. Now we are kind of running out of time…we need to find another ATM, pay our bill, eat, and get out the door, back through the maze to the main street and into a auto rickshaw and to the train station! Ok, I start walking, rather quickly, through the craziness in search of the next closest ATM…we finally found one all the way down by the even busier intersection across the way from the church we had visited a couple days prior, so we jumped into the very long line that seemed to be moving very slowly. Trying to stay calm while we were waiting , I continued practicing my people watching skills until we finally made to the front of the line. It was a race…we got our cash, speed walking back through the crowds of the street and back through the maze. Trying not to seem so rushed, we paid our dues to Sanju and ran upstairs to scarf down the rice we had ordered before we left in search of the AMT. Brenden eats fast anyway so it was no big deal for him…I on the other hand tend to like to taste my food! So I ate as fast as I could without making myself sick, drank down my bottle of Coke…which is a very rare occurrence for me…strapped my bag on and headed down stairs to say our goodbyes. Sanju was so very special to me and really helped to give the the confidence to soon be on my own and the contentment of being alone. I wanted to do something special for him to show him my gratitude. I had brought a sort of spin off of a swiss army knife that I had gotten as a free gift with some purchase I had made long ago…I felt that he could use it more than I…he was always making repairs and such around the guesthouse and he was very grateful to receive it. I gave him a big hug and was so glad when he agreed to take a photo!

Sweet Sanju

Alleyway in Varanasi

Once we found a tuk tuk we were on our way…except we had to stop for fuel! Traffic, as always, was like the worst "rush hour" you could ever imaging but all in all we thought we were doing ok on time. 

We were dropped off "in front" of the train station…on the wrong side of the super busy road that we hadn't braved when we arrived in Varanasi…time to put all of our practice crossing the street to the test! There was a median in the middle of the road separating each side of the road sort of like a highway. Every so often there was a gap in the median where people were passing through, dodging the various types of transportation…no crosswalks to be found! The trick is commitment…as with anything really. You just have to walk. And don't stop. If you hesitate in your step it screws up the whole flow of everything, the flow of the chaos. Somehow, and Im still not sure how, we made it across and through to the other side alive, without a scratch:) This was our second train, so we still weren't totally sure of how it all worked. As soon as we walked in we saw an office for foreign travelers…sweet! I went in, stood in line and was then directed to another office where we were told to"just wait right here"…out in front of the office. There were a bunch of other travelers "waiting right here" as well, but none of us could really figure out why. Thankfully there was an Indian waiting for the same train that spoke very good English, he informed us that they weren't sure which platform the train would be on so they hadn't posted it on the board yet. So we waited for a short time and soon learned our train would be on platform 9…it was so nice to have the knowledge of that Indian man. He kept telling us to relax, that we had plenty of time, and to just enjoy the walk there. And sure enough, we found our train, our car, and our seats with no problems at all! I felt very accomplished in that moment, and thought, hey, I could get used to this train riding thing! Just before the train was about to leave 2 young men (in their early 20's) came running into our car…they reminded me of us on our first train! They were from South Korea and very quickly became my first "train friends" :) Their english was very good, they were very well educated full of so much life and love. We were soon exchanging stories and pictures. They offered us both a baby wipe to "wipe the India off":), and a gift of an orange for each of us…so very generous. We were offered dinner on the train and without a second thought I accepted. When our food arrived our new friends pulled out some carry out  food they had brought onto the train with them and we shared a meal together. With full tummies we played "hang man" to pass the time, which they both got a kick out of and then they showed us how to play Korean Bingo! They had never heard of tick tack toe so we played that one as well. We had great fun making sweet memories…I will never forget them…they really made my day:) The noise on the train began to soften as people got situated and settled in for the night. Brenden and I sat up talking for awhile and then to, went to bed in our little bunks. Our train had departed at 6:05pm and was scheduled to arrive in Khajuraho at 5:15am. The night before I had tried to book a hotel for us but I couldn't get it to go through on the internet. I had asked Sanju if he knew of any places to stay in Khajuraho and he was thrilled to send us to his friend Pankaj at the Marble Palace Hotel. He said it was very clean and a good price. He even called his friend to be sure there were rooms available, and then told me that he had arranged for another friend of his that drove a tuk tuk to pick us up at the train station at 5:30 in the morning! Wow! What a blessing. I was so worried about how in heck we were going to figure all that out so early in the morning in a new place we knew nothing about…once again~Thank You Sanju! Now I can rest soundly, awaiting the sight of an Indian auto rickshaw driver holding a sign with my name on it at the Khajuraho Train Station:)

Train Friends:)