Originally we had 5 days planned for Varanasi but after many people told us that it wa s a s*** hole nwe decided to mke it 3 days - and boy are we gld we did. Varanasi is the holy city of India situated on the holy Ganges River. Many Indcians come here on holidays to worship and others come here to die or to cure them of their illnesses. On the banks of the Ganges river are many ghats in which people worship and some are open air burning ghats which are used to cremate the bodies of the deceased. We have seen at least half a dozen dead bodies coverd in red and gold cloth paraded through the street heading towards the ghats for the burning ritual. Once the body has been burned the ashes are thrown into the Ganges to lead them into their next life.

The old town of Varanasi is a maze of narrow pathways leading from ghat to ghat dotted with stalls selling souvenirs, food and prayer flowers. The pathways are littered with all sorts of rubbish as well as cows and their s*** and loads of stray dogs. Every women with a baby will beg for money and many men and young boys follow you through the streets trying to show you around in order for a tip or to lead you into their silk shop.

When i first heard about Varanasi I was told that it is not uncommon to see dead bodies or body parts floating down the Ganges river. Those who can't afford cremation or those that don't fit the 'category' ie gypsys, babies, pregnant ladies amoung a few are not cremated but are simply thown into the Ganges. We did not see any bodies which is probably a good thing. The river seems to be a lot cleaner than what i imagined. The water is a clearish green colour however the banks are covered in rubbish. The water is toxic and contains something like 300000 times the amount of bacteria than normal drinking water. This doesn't seem to worry the locals as they all swim and wash in it whether it be for purification reasons or simply to escape the 42 degree heat that we have had over the last 2 days. We were talking to a local and he said that ithe river is quite clean at the moment but after monsoon season it becomes brown and filthy as lots of rubbished gets washed down from upstream cities.

So tonight we are an an overnight train to Delhi. Let's hope that train crashes aren't as common as all the bus crashes we read about in the papers every morning.

Ciao - Giselle