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:)

Sarnath and Varanasi

Day 15 (1/15)

8am…Rise and shine! Back to the Lotus Cafe to try out their breakfast…and it was so delicious:) My new favorite thing~curd (unpasturized  yogurt) with museli, fresh fruit, and honey, fresh squeezed pineapple juice, and milk tea (chai). They call it a power breakfast:) I had to fuel up for our busy day of touring Sarnath and Varanasi. Our car would be ready for us at 11 and we had high hopes that our driver would speak some english, which we unfortunately forgot to request at the time of booking our tour! We are learning that you really have to be very clear and specific with every little detail of what exactly it is that you want, especially when it comes to the names of cities! So many of the city's here have very similar names so it has been important to write or point out the name of the city you would like to visit or you just might end up somewhere completely different! Our breakfast took longer than we had planned and we still needed to stop by the guesthouse to use the restroom and grab our things for the day…as we came down the many stairs from our room the travel agent was standing in the lobby (or what I considered the living room:) it had a couple couches, coffee table and a TV) looking for us saying that our car is waiting for us. He didn't seem very happy as we said goodbye to Sanju and began to follow him through the alleyways to the car. We came out of the maze into the main road and to a small car which we soon learned would take us to a larger car. Only compact cars are allowed into certain areas and for what ever reason I guess they thought we needed an SUV…seemed a bit much to me but hey, I'm just along for the ride! Once we transferred cars we were on our way to Sarnath…we were assuming…turns out the driver didn't know a lick of english! Alright, this will make for an interesting day:) After about an hour we arrived in Sarnath, the driver motions for us to get out of the car and there is a man there to greet us and tells us for 200 rupees he would be happy to show us around the town and all the different temples. What?! We just paid for a "tour" of Sarnath and the tour guide is not included!!!!? Ok. Deep breath. I start chanting to myself…lemonade, lemonade, lemonade… when you get lemons…! And actually the guide was very nice and knowledgeable. Without him I believe the town would have been a bit of a bore, without knowing where to go, what everything is and symbolizes…he was well worth the extra 200. I wish I would have written down all of the names of the temples and such but my personal favorite part of the tour was the Bodhi Tree where Buddha was said to meditate for many many years and then after reaching enlightenment he delivered his first sermon to his first 5 devotees. It was so cool to be standing under the same tree. There was a shrine built in front of the tree as well a some large statues representing Buddha and the first 5 men to receive his teachings. To be honest, I thought it was a bit much. I feel it would have been best to leave the tree in its natural state instead of surrounding it with a bunch of stuff. But who am I to say? Looking back on it now, I wish I would have taken the time to sit down and meditate for a while. I guess I was so worried about Brenden and the guide waiting for me I didn't allow myself to truly experience that time in space, for me. I suppose that that is some of what this trip really is about for me…learning to listen to myself, to my mind and body. To learn how to practice yoga, this union with the Divine within, off the mat an in the world. And here i am writing about the 15th day of my trip on the 23rd of Feb and its just now sort of hitting me how much I have grown into myself since that day under Buddha's Tree. The strength that I have gained to stand on my own, to let go of the tension created by stepping out of my element, and experience the unfolding of the lotus of my heart. Everyday learning to embrace the vast love and compassion that I have for myself, and for the world. The whole world. The world of India, the world of my home in Colorado, the unknown world still there for me to discover. 

Prayer wheel 

Buddha's Tree:)

As our tour came to an end we said our goodbyes to our new Nepalese friend and we were on our way to…who knows where! Soon we stopped in front of some big palace looking building which turned out to be a museum, I had to pea so bad I didn't care where we were as long as they had a bathroom…or as they say here in India…a toilet. I could hardly walk…and I was seriously afraid I wasn't going to make it! I was about to water a tree when I was finally pointed in the right direction to relieve myself without causing a scene! Its a funny thing here, everywhere you go you can find men peeing on the side of the road, in the middle of a bazaar, next to street food carts, next to busy roads…but I have not once seen an Indian woman doing the same. So just imagine if they saw a white girl squatting down to water the…dirt!? The museum was cool but not something I would have choose to do on my own. It does amaze me how they really don't take care of anything here. This museum was in what used to be this really beautiful palace, and it was filled with displays of all these old paintings and weapons, and things that were just dusty and dirty. I guess I just kept craving to see the beauty of India "back in the day". In the day of the kings, when the palaces were all sparkling and decorated with magnificent rugs and lamps and pillows to sit and eat grapes on. I know, I know, there goes my piciean mind again, day dreaming of a world and a time that I will never know, except in my mind.

As we left the museum we drove down a dirt road toward what you might call a bridge. I mean it was a bridge, but I would say it was a bit more appropriate for the use of pedestrians and bicycles to cross the river…oh no…lets add motorcycles, push carts, auto rickshaws and cars! I took a video of this crazy ride but Im guessing it probably wont load:( The bridge was just barley wider than one lane on a road…but there was traffic moving in 2 directions! At one point we, in an SUV were passing another car and we were so close together I thought we were going to get stuck…pulling in side view mirrors and all! Its so hard to explain the experience of transportation here but let me tell you…there is never a moment of peace. Im guessing that Indians have never even heard of someone falling asleep at the wheel! I don't know how you could!

We headed back towards Varanasi and stopped off at the Monkey Temple. We didn't really know where we were suppose to go or what we were suppose to do. Our driver just kept pointing and telling us stuff in what I am assuming was Hindi but who knows! So we walk in through security(no cameras aloud) and are suddenly on a walk way with a wire fence on both sides of us…keeping the hundreds of monkey's within the boundaries of the park. They had a lot of open space so it wasn't really like a zoo…and the fence was not very well kept so the monkeys were pretty much running around anywhere they wanted! As we were walking I started to think that thats all it was, a place with a highly concentrated amount of monkeys, but then we came around a bend and saw a really long line waiting to get into the actual Monkey Temple! We were both feeling pretty tired and couldn't really decide if we wanted to stand in such a long line…but had convinced ourselves(or it may have been more of me convincing Brenden…) that we should. We were just about to get in line and out of nowhere our driver appears and sort of yells at us to "come". We follow him to the front of the line…looking over peoples heads to see the Hanuman statue inside and then he says "ok!" and motions for us to follow him once again as we walk out of the park. He must have read our minds and it was in that moment that I began to love our driver…I think maybe he had a hot date that night and wanted this tour to be over as much as we did. Although there was one more stop along the way…another temple where, when we got out of the car a plate of flowers were shoved into both of our hands and we were escorted into I believe the Durga Temple, directed to take off our shoes and sort of shoved into a line to the shrine where you can offer your flowers and money of course…if you so choose. They try and make you think that you have to give money but I didn't fall for it and just handed over my offering of flowers…it was all so chaotic and crazy I felt like I didn't really know what was happening! This is not how I imagined a temple to be…in the middle of a crazy ass loud town with people everywhere pushing and shoving their way to the front of the line…like if they get there first their prayers will be answered first or something! I don't know…it was not a very pleasant experience and I surly did not feel any sort of peace or love or serenity as I walked away to get my shoes which I had to pay to get back! Then as we get back in the car the man that pretty much forced us to take the flowers when we arrived stuck his head in the window and started yelling at us for money for the flowers! I tried to argue and say that I wouldn't pay for something that appeared to be free but finally just gave him a 10 note to get him to leave! Get me out of here! I was so done with this tour and was so starving I just wanted to be back in the quiet of the maze of alleyways I had grown to love, winding my way towards somewhere with delicious food to nourish my tired body and mind. We drive for a bit more and then the car just stops, sort of in the middle of the road and we are motioned to get out of the car…and then the car just drives away. So there we are just standing on the side of this road with really no clue of where the hell we are! Thankfully Brenden had a good feeling of what direction we should walk and he got us back to a familiar place with out too much trouble and finally we were back to the guesthouse where we started! I was anxious to run upstairs to wash up and get to the closest place with food! After using the bathroom I came out to find Brenden lying on the bed and after some waiting learned that he wanted to take a nap, even though we were both starving! Ok…Im off on my own! There was no way I could wait any longer to eat…it was after 5pm and we hadn't eaten anything except some chips in the car since 9am. I headed down to the "living room" and asked Sanju if he could recommend somewhere good to eat. We ended up having a really nice conversation and I felt comforted and cared for by him. He directed me towards Keshari…one of his favorite places to eat. It was kind of nice to have some time to myself, although I was a bit scared at first, I felt very lonely and pushed away by my travel companion which caused me to really start missing my family and loved ones back home. Sanju picked up on this right away and was so sweet to offer words of wisdom and courage. Once I found the restaurant and had some food I felt much better and ended up wondering the streets on my own. After a couple of hours I headed back to the guesthouse and hung out with Sanju and another man that worked there. We were just hangin out watching TV, and sharing stories and pictures. It was in these moments that I realized that it was the people I loved most about traveling. I mean don't get me wrong…it is amazing to see this whole new and different world, but to get to know the life within that world. Thats what I love most. The connection with a culture, a way of thinking and seeing the world that is so very different from the one I have learned and lived all these years. It's almost as if I have found what I was looking for, a sense of belonging and understanding of something I have only read about in books. The heart of India. At first this place seems so crazy and unforgiving…but once you get passed all that, you find the heart. It was then, as I sat there with my new friends that I knew everything was going to be just fine.

  

More stories from Varanasi...

Day 14 (1/14)

I have always felt very grateful to be able to sleep through just about anything. With our room being right next door to the kitchen, and with the kitchen tending to be the meeting place of friends and family(like those working at the guesthouse), this particular room wasn't the most quiet. Personally I tend to enjoy situations like this. It opens opportunities for experience. Experience of another culture, of different people with different ways of life. A chance to embrace all of those differences and the possibility of learning something new, maybe about yourself. Brenden was not seeing things quite the same…all it was to him was noise that was driving him crazy, mad, up the wall. Without question Sanju moved us to a different room. While we were waiting for our new room to be ready, we gathered up our things and noticed many monkey's out and about on the rooftops. With our windows open there were no screens but metal bars of a sort so you couldn't fall out…but you could feed the monkey's! Being the lover of fruit that I am I always had banana's and oranges on hand, so we began to lure the monkeys to our window with some fruit…it was not a hard task to accomplish. Within moments we had monkeys literally right in front of us, eager for some treats. Im sure the locals really look down upon feeding the monkeys…it seems they are alway annoyed with them as they shoo them away. But us on the other hand…I mean, come on. When do you get the chance to feed a monkey out of your hand? To get that up close and personal with an animal of the "wild"? We couldn't resist! It is one of the coolest things, to be able to observe such a creature, the way they use their hands and feet, the way they peel a banana and an orange, the way they interact with each other. Just another opportunity to witness life:) Again, I truly believe that if we had monkeys running around everywhere in the US, people would be watching a whole lot less TV!

No more monkey's jumpin on the bed!

No more monkey's jumpin on the bed!

Miss you Ryker...hugs and kisses from Auntie:)

After breakfast at a local eatery called Spicy Bites, we went to a travel agency recommended to us by Sanju to set up our trains for the next few cities and ended up also booking a car to go to Sarnath (a Buddhist community about an hour from Varanasi). I was very excited to visit Sarnath, it is most famous for the Bodhi Tree where Buddha gave his first sermon over 2,500 years ago after reaching enlightenment, as well as the Dhamekh Stupa which was built A.D. 500 standing 102 ft tall and is said to mark the very spot where Buddha revealed his Eightfold Path leading to nirvana. But we'll get to more of that tomorrow! Once we got our travel plans booked we headed back to the guesthouse to check out Kite Festival from the rooftop. I thought it was magical yesterday! I honestly cannot find the words to explain what I saw before my eyes. I felt like I was in a movie. It was so surreal, so perfectly arranged how could it possibly be real? Literally thousands of kites flying in the air. Every rooftop full of people enjoying the beautiful celebration, laughing, dancing, just truly living in each moment. Again, witnessing life, and so many lives actually living instead of just existing. So inspiring.

Later we decided to walk towards the burning ghats, the main reason why Varanasi is so famous for being a holy city. This is where, to my understanding, almost every Indian in India would like to be taken for cremation. After bathing the body one last time in the Ganges (the same river in which people come from all around to bathe themselves in the 'holy water'…downstream from where the dead bodies are bathed) it is placed on woodpiles and covered with a flammable paste of some sort, incense powder (to cover the smell of burning flesh) and then more logs are placed on top. Considered an honor, the oldest son then lights the body on fire as the family and loved ones gather around to grieve. As we approached the fire ghat Brenden began to follow what appeared to be a tour guide with another traveler to see where he was taking them. We ended up behind the fire and within very close quarters of this burning body. To be quite honest the smell was not that bad and it wasn't as overwhelming as I thought it would be, what got me was the smoke. It was so thick, black, and overpowering I had to cover my mouth and nose in order to bare it wishing I had some sort of protection for my eyes as they began to burn with much intensity. In retrospect, I wish that I would have just kept my distance. Not because it was too much, but because I felt very disrespectful wondering around and through people that were most likely there to grieve the loss of a loved one. I felt like I was intruding. In the moment of it all I had imagined some random person coming into the middle of funeral for one my loved ones, sticking their nose here and there…wondering around trying to figure out what this ceremony was all about. I don't know, it just didn't settle with me very well and I wish that I would have listened to my gut and kept my distance. But, what's done is done. 

The sun was beginning to sink down out of the sky and it was just about time for the Ganga Aarti to begin. We wanted to view the puja (ceremony) from the other side and got a seat pretty close to the front. We were both starving so I grabbed us some chips to snack on and hold us over until the Aarti was finished and we could have some dinner. It was really cool to watch all of the devotees as well as other curious travelers like us. I have to say that this ceremony was the most impressive so far, much more complex and organized. As I watched, and opened myself to this new experience, I was consumed by the massive amounts of incense being burned, the bells, the chanting, the flames of awareness that surrounded me. Then it became very quiet and the sound of a single conch shell captured the attention of all. It was really a beautiful offering of prayer, and love, hope, faith, and devotion to the eternal womb, the cleansing water of Mother Ganga known to purify the soul of all its sins.

By the time the puja was over we were starving! We headed back to the guesthouse to use the bathroom and we had a delightful surprise waiting for us...clean laundry! Hooray! Brenden had found another place in his book that he wanted to try for dinner called the Brown Bread Bakery. It was said to have live local music:) So we were off to explore once more in hopes that we would find this place sooner than later...we both tend to get a little grouchy when we are hungry.  Brenden put me in charge of navigating...which I had been doing pretty well at so far surprisingly! So I start following signs for this eatery and begin to feel like we are going in circles! Which, really, we were. But the sign would tell us one direction and then we would see another sign pointing us in the opposite direction...I would ask people sitting in front of their shops and the same thing would happen! Back and forth, back and forth...I think we were both getting to our breaking point when suddenly, down a very dark alleyway I caught a glimps of a very dirty sign stating the words we had been searching for: Brown Bread Bakery. Thank the food gods...I was about to loose it! We walked up some very dark stairs and found an open door leading us into a cozy little room with low tables and pillows and the beautiful sounds of the sitar an tabla drums accompanied by a mans enchanting voice seducing us in a mesmerizing language. The atmosphere and music were the best parts of this place in my opinion...the salad was delicious but we had ordered pizza and I did not really care for it. Which really, was to be expected...we were in India after all! All in all I would say it was worth the long search and I enjoyed myself very much. This pic explains why it was so hard to find! We probably walked passed a half a dozen times!!!

The Holy City of Varanasi

Day 13 (1/13)

We slept in a bit today and made it up to the rooftop just in time for the breakfast buffet that was included with our room, and our first view of Varanasi in the daylight! It was beautiful…lots of monkeys playing on the rooftops that surrounded us and… SUNSHINE! It has been much colder than we had imagined so far and it felt nice to peel off some layers and soak up some vitamin D. After breakfast we decided to seek out our other options for places to stay on the internet in the lobby while we were checking out. After some research we decided to just transfer to the ShivaKashi Guest House that was offered to us the night before. As soon as we let the desk manager know he had a young boy…maybe 15 or16…carry my bag and we were told to follow him and he would take us to the guesthouse. I thought my bag looked big on me…it looked giant on this skinny little Indian boy and I was amazed at his strength and ability to maneuver through the narrow alleys around all the people and cows and bikes…to me it felt like a labyrinth and I began to wonder how I would ever find my way around much less back to the guesthouse once I had left it! I never saw any street signs although I know they all had names. Painted on all of the walls surrounding us were names of different places…guesthouses, restaurants, shops…with arrows pointing in what direction you could find that particular place. Even though it felt a little overwhelming, with each step the feel of Varanasi grew on me, my smile began to widen, and I began to feel this anxiousness to wonder around and explore this new world that seemed to be tucked away in a secret place. When we arrived to ShivaKashi's we were kindly greeted  by the manager Sanju, he was this adorable little Indian man dressed western style with slacks and a button down shirt with a black leather jacket, smoking a cigarette. He was very nice and helpful, talkative, and I could tell right away we would get along great, we were both storytellers:) He gave us clean towels, our key, and showed us to our room which was up many many stairs that got steeper the higher you went. We were on the top floor, right next to the kitchen and right below the rooftop restaurant. We decided to relax a bit up on the rooftop and just enjoy the surroundings over some tea and coffee. The rooftop was enclosed with a fence like structure to keep the monkeys out and as we began to look around we saw a lot of other people up on their rooftops flying kites. Turns out it was the weekend of  Kite Festival! An annual celebration where pretty much everyone in the city hangs out all day flying kites! Sanju said today was a day for practice and that tomorrow was the big day and it would continue until sunset. It was so crazy to see that many kites flying in the sky all at the same time, it was really quite magical. It was also really neat to be able to just sit and watch all the people hanging out with their friends and loved ones. There was some really loud music playing that you could probably hear throughout the town and people were dancing, and laughing, it seemed like there wasn't a single person without a big smile on their face.

Everyone practicing for Kite Festival!

views from our rooftop restaurant

life in Varanasi

 I think we ended up hanging out up there for a couple of hours and then decided to venture out and see if we could find our way to the ghat and check out the view from down below. Before we left Sanju gave us each a business card, I think he must be used to people leaving and not being able to find their way back! We both smiled and said thank you, I can only speak for myself, but I think we both thought that Sanju must have read both of our minds! We had also noticed that they had laundry service for very cheap, so we ran up and grabbed all of our dirty clothes so we could have them back by the evening of the next day. As we left we were sure to take a good look around at different landmarks and signs that would help us remember how to get back, but after some time of walking it became pretty apparent that we were going to have a challenge on our hands later, but that was okay with me. I sort of thought of it as a test. Good practice for building my awareness and being able to find my way around. Soon, I would be doing this all on my own. We soon found ourselves out at the main road…the craziness…a much bigger bazaar with beautiful arrangements of fruits and vegetables, freshly roasted nuts, delicious smelling street food, and shops galore! I actually bought a new jacket…and even haggled the price down!

 We walked quite a ways down, toward an even busier intersection where there was a church. The man who had walked us to the first guesthouse had told me that this church was the oldest Christian church in the area…I thought I had taken a picture of it but I guess I didn't:( It was yellow and white, very simple. Considering this was a holy city I decided to go in and see if they had any rosaries for sale…my strong and beautiful Grandmother collects them and I wanted to get one for her from India. (Hi Grandma! I miss you and love you XOXO) As we entered the gate I noticed a few Indian women sitting and standing around a bench that was outside of the church and an Indian woman was washing the steps that led into the church. I said "Namaste", and took off my shoes. I tried to ask about the rosary but no one understood, so I thought I would just go inside to see if there was someone that understood English. I took two steps towards the entrance of the church and the woman washing the stairs began to yell at me in Hindi, practically chasing me down off the stairs! All the other women were just staring at me and caused an uncomfortable feeling I was having trouble understanding. Isn't a church a place of love and acceptance? I'm sure I was just disrupting her cleaning duties before service or some sort of ceremony that I was unaware of but I feel like, even without words, there are so many ways you can communicate (like with your hands as my Italian family would know!). I put my shoes back on, feeling very unwelcome, and we left. We headed back down the busy bazaar on the other side finding our way back to the orange ATM sign that would lead us back into the maze of alleyways and hopefully fairly quickly to the ghat. Once we found the river we just walked around, the ghat is great for people watching, which I love to do! After some wondering around the ghats the sun was beginning to set at this time so we decided to take a boat ride along the Ganges, which was no challenge at all considering there are many many men along the ghats offering boat rides! So we jumped on a little row boat after we agreed on a fair price for one hour. Luckily our boat "rower" knew pretty good english and was pretty informative as far as the happenings around that ghat which was a bonus. As we were floating along this tiny little boat approached selling the little flower baskets to offer to Mother Ganga so we bought 2 and the boat man helped us light them telling us to say the names of our loved ones to send them good health and a long and happy life. We did, and it was probably the most ceremonious attempt we had so far! Neither of the baskets toppled over and we finally got to watch our prayers floating down the big and powerful Ganga. He took us down to the burning ghats and explained a little bit about the process and ceremony, we also got to see the Ganga Aarti from the river which was really cool~ a whole new perspective compared to the Aarti's we had been to in the last 2 cities:) This ceremony was much bigger and was very mesmerizing to watch and listen to, receiving all the beautiful vibrations.

boat ride on the Ganges~sending prayers to all my loved ones:)

river view of Ganga Aarti

After our hour long cruise had come to an end we were hungry and set off in search of the Lotus Cafe that Brenden had found in his book, known to cater to tourist with fresh salads washed in mineral water! Hooray! I was so excited to get some fresh, crisp, whole foods in my body:) Not that I hadn't been enjoying all the amazing food so far, I had just really been missing my salads! We found the place pretty easily and it was super chill. With a view of the river we had the option of sitting on the ground on cushions at low tables, which of course I choose! The food was excellent as was the service. I had a delicious tuna salad with a bunch of fresh veggies, ginger carrot soup that was amazing, and honey mint tea that felt very soothing to by body. With perfectly full tummies we headed back to our guesthouse and surprisingly didn't really have too much trouble finding our way back "home".

Lotus Lounge

I have many more pics but they are loading very slowly...I will probably start limiting the photos so I can share the story:)

Chooo Chooo! Varanasi here we come:)

Day 12 (1/12)

When we awoke the next morning we freshened up and shared some fruit we had brought along for the journey as well as a protein bar I had brought from the states.We had noticed someone standing in the doorway with the door open to the outside of the train near the bathrooms so when they were done we claimed the spot for the majority of our trip:) We each had an ear bud to my ipod and we just sat in the door way with our feet on the first step out of the train…at first it was a little scary but soon it became the best thing ever! To be able to sit and watch the world of India go by as if it was a show on the Discovery Channel, with the wind in my hair, and all the amazing smells…so fabulously wonderful! We were prepared to spend about 11 hours on the train if my mind serves me well and as it got closer to the "time of arrival" everyone kept saying that Varanasi was still 4 or 5 hours away! What!? Oh well…we had each other to keep company so again…make lemonade! We played a few rounds of HangMan and Tic Tac Toe then back out to watch the world go by:) Are journey ended up being 17 hours…but honestly it didn't feel that long at all. We both enjoyed the experience very much. I believe we arrived in Varanasi around 4:30 or 5 and headed out to figure out how not to get ripped off by a tuk tuk driver!

Shanti! (peace)

As soon as we started walking towards the stairs that would lead us out of the train station this Indian man wearing a red polo shirt and a leather jacket with jeans started to follow us and ask us if we needed a tuk tuk. We kept telling him no thank you because we wanted to get outside just to see what the situation was…maybe we didn't need one, maybe we could get to the guest house we had chosen out of the travel book by foot. We got outside, and he continued to follow us, explaining that he would give us a fair price, pre set price, and to top it off his name was Shiva:) We got to the main street outside the station and it was CRAZY! We didn't even know if we would be able to cross the street and get to the other side alive so we accepted Shiva's offer and walked back to his tuk tuk~his persistence paid off:) We told him where we wanted to go and he kept trying to convince us to stay somewhere else…somewhere he would most likely get a commission if he arrived with guests…we stood our ground and he finally agreed to take us to where we wanted to go. So here we are, in what is know as one of the holiest cities in India (this is where Indians like to be cremated by the Ganges) and its hard to believe that it's "holy" because of all the craziness! The streets are just as bad as Delhi…I had imagined a holy city as peaceful and serene. I have to remind myself to not have any expectations…ok, I threw them out the window~again. We arrived at an intersection where we stopped…the rest of the road to the hotel allowed only those on foot, the driver let us use his cell phone to call the guest house to be sure they had a room and to sent someone to pick us up and show us the way to the guest house. They only had a room for the night but we were tired and wanted a hot shower so we took it even though we had planned to stay longer. They said they could transfer us to their sister guest house tomorrow if we would like. Shortly after I hung up and said goodbye to Shiva a man showed up to walk us to the place we would sleep for the night. This man was very nice and walked through the chaos very casually, as if he was taking a stroll through the park. Brenden and I were still not used to it so we were on our tip toes! We took a left down a very narrow alley and were suddenly in a maze of very narrow alleys filled with shops and eatery's, places to stay, tons of people, dogs, cows, Shiva Lingam's, it was so cool. It was already dark and I just remember thinking…how in the heck will I ever remember how to get to and from this place! As we arrived at the Rashmi Guest House there was a beautiful tree with a lovely little shrine decorated with fresh flower offerings…as we enter our bags were kindly taken from us and we were offered each a beautiful necklace of fresh flowers! They smelled so heavenly. As we were checking in and filling out paperwork I would forget that I had the flowers around my neck and think…"What smells so good?…Oh! Its me!:)" After check in are bags were carried up to our room for us where we found a small but cozy room, comfy bed, and after some figuring out…a hot shower and a space heater:) We had a lovely dinner at the rooftop restaurant with a view of the Ganges and then retired for the evening.

The Wild Wild...India!

Day 11 (1/11)

After a surprisingly good night of sleep we began to awaken…considering I wore all of my clothes to bed all I needed to do was brush my teeth, or more so the only thing I was willing to do in the boundaries of that bathroom besides hover above the toilet when absolutely necessary! At this point I felt like the only thing I had control over was the cleanliness of was the inside of my mouth so I took full advantage and brushed extra long! Our train left late that night so we needed to try and work a deal with the guesthouse to keep the room until 1030pm…we had set up a 1/2 day safari excursion the day before so we needed somewhere to keep our stuff. He gave us half off the room for the half day if I remember correctly and we headed back to Big Ben for a hearty breakfast before our big day of hopefully seeing some elephants in the wild! We had to be back to the travel place by 1 to meet the man who set up our day…and what a day it was! Once we arrived the man asked if we would be ok with riding on his motorcycle to the place that we would get picked up for the safari…as you may or may not know, it is very common for several people to pile on a motorcycle in India…Iv'e seen whole family's on one! I have been sort of fascinated by it in some strange way~it's like my way of looking at things is totally different from how I would view the same thing in the US. For example~ In India when I see an entire family on a motorcycle (from front to back…small child, dad driving, small child, mom sitting side saddle holding a tiny infant baby, and there's usually some bags thrown in there somewhere too!) I have caught myself saying: "How cute! look at the little baby!" Where as if I saw the same thing in the US I would say: "What the HELL are they thinking! Who in their right mind would put their entire family on a motorcycle with no helmets, no shoes, taking no precaution what so ever!" But it's like totally normal here…and what's even more strange is that it's becoming normal to me. One of my new favorite things to see is the Indian women wrapped up in their beautiful sari's sitting side saddle on the back of a motorcycle or driving a scooter:) So anyway…Brenden and I (sitting side saddle of course, wishing I was wearing a sari) piled onto this mans motorcycle for our first time in India~sorry Dad but I was not wearing a helmet…miss you XOXO. As we weaved through the organized chaos of the Haridwar streets it was so exhilarating, feeling the wind blowing through my hair and feeling somehow safe. Many times through out my trip so far I have thought how wonderful it would be to have my beautiful friend Reg here with me…not just to have her with me because she is amazing, but to photograph my experience here in India. And this was defiantly one of those moments! To have a picture of myself on the back of that motorcycle somehow capturing exactly how I was feeing in that moment (which Reg is so amazing at doing) would be so awesome.

Giant statue near the bridge

My first Indian motorcycle!

When we arrived at the bridge where another guy picked us up on another motorcycle our first driver said we would get dropped off around that area and could take the walking bridge across to town near the ghat…so we went for a short ride on the second motorcycle where we got picked up by a jeep and taken to the Rajaji National Park. We were a bit early so we hung out in the sunshine, had some chai, and I did a bit of yoga in the shade just to stretch my body:) 

So comfortable! Both of us wanted one.

Just kickin back:)

Nice smile;)

Miss you Ryker and Blake...I take you with me everywhere I go. Love you...Muah!

I was time to go so we got in the jeep with our 2 guides and set off into the wilderness!

It was a very bumpy ride and so much fun:) It was just neat to be there, in the wild of India with both eyes wide open anxious to see some wild animals. And we did…deer and elk…the guides didn't know much english but they did know: "Bambi!"…fawn, birds, monkeys, wild boar… After some time we both mentioned to each other how badly we wanted to see some/an elephant…so we thought…what has worked everytime we needed/wanted something? Chanting! So we started chanting a Ganesh mantra (Ganesh is the elephant headed god remover of obstacles) Om Gam Ganapataye Namaha.And guess what? It worked!!!:) Soon after we started chanting we saw a mama elephant with her 2 babies! It was so exciting I could hardly believe it! What a wonderful experience. After we watched them for awhile one of the babies became very curious and started running toward our jeep…I tried to catch it on video~so fantastic!

cool trail:)

his smile says it all!

Once we got dropped off near the bridge we started walking towards the walking bridge we were told to take back to town…but when we got there it was closed. The man sitting in the booth didn't know english and just kept pointing in a certain direction…so we started walking that way with no idea where we were going. As we were crossing another bridge Brenden noticed that over the stone wall there was a pathway that looked like it went towards the Ganges…so we jumped the wall and got down the dirt hill through some trees and found ourselves in a small slum with makeshift huts made out of plastic tarps and plywood, a little community tucked back behind the seances with its own tiny little bazaar and everything! It was really cool to walk through and to have the opportunity to say Namaste with a smile to all the people we passed along the way. We went back through the Ganga Aarti and to the guest house to get our stuff packed up before we went to dinner at yes you guessed it…Big Ben. We were still very unsure about eating outside of what was recommended as safe for foreigners by our India travel books so we just stuck to the one place that was suggested for Haridwar. Soon after it was time to head to the station to catch our first train in India! The station wasn't far from where we were so we left a little after 10pm, the train left 11:45pm so we wanted to have plenty of time to figure out the train system and be sure to find our train in time. As we headed out into the street to catch a tuk tuk the streets were empty! We had a moment of panic…would we be able to find it on our own and would we get there in time on foot?! We started walking…and then some god sent us a rickshaw (bicycle taxi)! Hooray!…the man was so strong to peddle me and Brenden plus all of our stuff! He was like pure muscle.

I took a deep breath before entering the train station. The last time we did this it did not go very well…at least this time we already had tickets. Now we just have to figure out where our train is…nothing is in English so its like a wild goose chase! We find a bench and unload our stuff…Brenden volunteered me to go out and start asking around while he stayed with our bags~which was fine with me:) So I headed to what appeared to be a police stand and asked them what platform this train would be on…handing them my ticket. They pointed down~back towards Brenden…I asked if it was the empty track that was right in front of us and they made the same motion talking in Hindi. Okaaaay… I walk back to Brenden…we keep waiting for the signs in front of the track that was empty to change to our train number…watching the time as I continue to ask random people what platform and continue to get really blurry answers mostly in Hindi. Ok. time is starting to run out and we still don't know if we are in the right place~Wait! Theres a very tall white man with a bright red coat on, he must know english! I wave and say hello~he walks right passed me:( OK maybe not. A few more minutes pass…ooh~there's a young indian girl…she probably knows English! Hooray she does! She walks me down a ways and points to a sign showing the direction that platform 8 can be found…8 she tells me~platform 8. THANK YOU SO MUCH! We have like no time to get to where our train is now…we have been sitting in the main building and platform 8 is in the next building over! I run back to Brenden and we strap our bags on super fast and start running! We see our train~ok its still here but now we have to find our car B2 We had to run practically the whole length of the train…and it was a long one! There's B2! We literally jump onto the train as it begins to move. Whoa…that was too close! But we made it! Yippee!!!! We walk down the isle to find our seats~its a sleeper train. We find our seats and guess who's on the top bunk propped up on his arm talking to one of our other bunk mates? The very tall white man that was wearing the red coat! He says…"Cutting it a little close aren't you?" All I could do was laugh! I told him of how I had attempted to ask him for help and we all had a good laugh about it. Our new room mates for the next 11 hours or so were very nice and helped us find our sheets pillows and blankets so we could get settled in for our first nights sleep on a train. Everyone else had obviously been there awhile and most of the train seemed to already be sleeping so we both got into our little bunks and prepared for rest. I read for a while with my head lamp and then passed out for the night.