India Wrap: Varanasi and Kolkata
Namaste,
So.....After a few days in Delhi, we took the overnight train to Varanasi, one of the holiest places India, and one of the oldest cities in the world. Bordered by the river Ganges, multitudes migrate here near the time of their death to be cremated on the river's banks and laid to rest in the river itself. We spent an hour one afternoon watching cremations (which consist of laying a body across a stack of wood and setting it afire) from the balcony of a hospice, where the aged waited patiently, collecting donations for the wood of their own pyre. The source fire for these cremations, we were told, has been burning non stop for thousands of years. Hundreds are disposed of this way at these "burning ghats" each day. After a few hours each fire dies down and the remains are collected and transported three meters or so to the river, where a boat dumps them a few meters off shore. -Not everything burns completely: rib cages and hip bones make up the bulk of what is transported to the river. Not everyone is burned. Children, pregnant women, those bitten by snakes, and a few others, are weighted and dumped in the river whole, where they are intended to settle to rest on the bottom. Not all stay there. During a dawn boat trip down the river, we had the poor fortune of rowing past a severely bloated and gaseous corpse -that was different...
The most amazing thing about all this is that not thirty feet away there were over a hundred people going about their morning ablutions in the very same river. Thousands every day descend the city's numerous ghats to the water, where they bathe, pray and even drink from the river. The locals believe the river has special religious significance and that bathing in it is cleansing. In fact, the city draws most of its water from the river, so it is no surprise that foreign visitors here more often than not fall ill. Since we've been drinking shit-water in malarial zones for months now, we didn't really notice, per se...
We didn't hang around long, catching another overnight train to Kolkata. To put it mildly, Kolkata was humid. Not so terribly hot, really, but humid. I don't think I've ever been anywhere, outside a yoga studio, where the sweat poured off of me like an open spigot. I was drenched, head to foot, from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. I think I liked Kolkata more than any other place in India... probably because it was the least filthy place we visited. And the food was really good. We stayed in Kolkata only a few days, catching a flight to Bangkok.
Tatyana's thoughts on India......My mom asked me yesterday why we stayed for only two weeks (expected to stay there a month). Well, one thing for sure is that there is no other place in the world like India and you must go because India is by far the craziest place you will ever visit. You either love it or hate it in India and we (ok, I) just couldn't get over the culture shock. Here are a few things I found different (good and bad)...... 1) The streets are filled with people (ok, this was expected) - they are everywhere! No matter what city or guest house you stay at there will be at least 5 people asleep outside of your door in the hotel lobby when you come out in the morning. They also love to sleep in so the streets don't start buzzing until 10 am or so. The guide book says that its rude to step over people but in India there is just no other way to get out of your hotel. In the morning you see people sleeping and bathing everywhere and they don't at all resemble our bums at home, they are normal people! This was pretty amazing to see. 2) Men make up the majority of the population and many are just plain perverts. I was surprised when our Rough Guide said "expect to get groped in public" in the women's section at first. Not so surprised now. The streets are busy and they take advantage of it. They also stare no matter how conservatively you dress. So I never felt comfortable being out and towards the end I would just stare back until they looked away. This was not so amazing. 3) the men pee everywhere. i have never been to another country that had urinals hanging on buildings, in the middle of a busy sidewalk with no wall.... not that they use them much. Most men (including cops) pee everywhere and don't even try to be discreet about it. 4) 95% of people we came into contact with tried to rip us off somehow. These included tour guides, hotel clerks, cops, etc, etc.... Nothing is free in India and we found (sometimes the hard way) that there is always an alternative motive when someone is being helpful. Although India is a dirty dusty place I am really glad we went because it was an experience we will never forget. Having said that after 3 days in the country we made a conscious decision to see the things we came to see and get out of there as fast as we could. One thing we did love is the food. Amazing food at amazingly cheap prices everywhere! If you are contemplating going I say go for sure! You might love it or you might hate it but you will never forget it. That's that. Take it for what it is.
Tatyana has posted pics to her Facebook page. We're on the island of Ko Tao, off the gulf coast of Thailand now. Tomorrow we start our PADI open water course. I should have an update soon.
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024774&id=1081248185&l=b5d73aa51a
So.....After a few days in Delhi, we took the overnight train to Varanasi, one of the holiest places India, and one of the oldest cities in the world. Bordered by the river Ganges, multitudes migrate here near the time of their death to be cremated on the river's banks and laid to rest in the river itself. We spent an hour one afternoon watching cremations (which consist of laying a body across a stack of wood and setting it afire) from the balcony of a hospice, where the aged waited patiently, collecting donations for the wood of their own pyre. The source fire for these cremations, we were told, has been burning non stop for thousands of years. Hundreds are disposed of this way at these "burning ghats" each day. After a few hours each fire dies down and the remains are collected and transported three meters or so to the river, where a boat dumps them a few meters off shore. -Not everything burns completely: rib cages and hip bones make up the bulk of what is transported to the river. Not everyone is burned. Children, pregnant women, those bitten by snakes, and a few others, are weighted and dumped in the river whole, where they are intended to settle to rest on the bottom. Not all stay there. During a dawn boat trip down the river, we had the poor fortune of rowing past a severely bloated and gaseous corpse -that was different...
The most amazing thing about all this is that not thirty feet away there were over a hundred people going about their morning ablutions in the very same river. Thousands every day descend the city's numerous ghats to the water, where they bathe, pray and even drink from the river. The locals believe the river has special religious significance and that bathing in it is cleansing. In fact, the city draws most of its water from the river, so it is no surprise that foreign visitors here more often than not fall ill. Since we've been drinking shit-water in malarial zones for months now, we didn't really notice, per se...
We didn't hang around long, catching another overnight train to Kolkata. To put it mildly, Kolkata was humid. Not so terribly hot, really, but humid. I don't think I've ever been anywhere, outside a yoga studio, where the sweat poured off of me like an open spigot. I was drenched, head to foot, from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. I think I liked Kolkata more than any other place in India... probably because it was the least filthy place we visited. And the food was really good. We stayed in Kolkata only a few days, catching a flight to Bangkok.
Tatyana's thoughts on India......My mom asked me yesterday why we stayed for only two weeks (expected to stay there a month). Well, one thing for sure is that there is no other place in the world like India and you must go because India is by far the craziest place you will ever visit. You either love it or hate it in India and we (ok, I) just couldn't get over the culture shock. Here are a few things I found different (good and bad)...... 1) The streets are filled with people (ok, this was expected) - they are everywhere! No matter what city or guest house you stay at there will be at least 5 people asleep outside of your door in the hotel lobby when you come out in the morning. They also love to sleep in so the streets don't start buzzing until 10 am or so. The guide book says that its rude to step over people but in India there is just no other way to get out of your hotel. In the morning you see people sleeping and bathing everywhere and they don't at all resemble our bums at home, they are normal people! This was pretty amazing to see. 2) Men make up the majority of the population and many are just plain perverts. I was surprised when our Rough Guide said "expect to get groped in public" in the women's section at first. Not so surprised now. The streets are busy and they take advantage of it. They also stare no matter how conservatively you dress. So I never felt comfortable being out and towards the end I would just stare back until they looked away. This was not so amazing. 3) the men pee everywhere. i have never been to another country that had urinals hanging on buildings, in the middle of a busy sidewalk with no wall.... not that they use them much. Most men (including cops) pee everywhere and don't even try to be discreet about it. 4) 95% of people we came into contact with tried to rip us off somehow. These included tour guides, hotel clerks, cops, etc, etc.... Nothing is free in India and we found (sometimes the hard way) that there is always an alternative motive when someone is being helpful. Although India is a dirty dusty place I am really glad we went because it was an experience we will never forget. Having said that after 3 days in the country we made a conscious decision to see the things we came to see and get out of there as fast as we could. One thing we did love is the food. Amazing food at amazingly cheap prices everywhere! If you are contemplating going I say go for sure! You might love it or you might hate it but you will never forget it. That's that. Take it for what it is.
Tatyana has posted pics to her Facebook page. We're on the island of Ko Tao, off the gulf coast of Thailand now. Tomorrow we start our PADI open water course. I should have an update soon.
www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2024774&id=1081248185&l=b5d73aa51a
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