OH MY GOD, THE HEAT!!! THE HEAT!!! 115 degrees and rising. Last monday was the hottest day in Varanasi, EVER in April! There are constant rotating power outages in Varanasi, and all of India in fact. My fan is not working! I'm sweating when I wake up, I'm sweating as I walk, I'm sweating as I eat, I'm sweating as I sleep. I'm just dredged in my own sweat, and I'm having to drink 6 liters of water a day.

Varanasi is - India in the raw - according to one guidebook. And yes, after being there, I agree. As I approached the city at night, there was a heavy fog that held itself over the Ganga river. Bells and prayers reverberated through the back alley streets. Trash and filth piled along the streets, river, well just about every where. I've never seen a dirtier city in my life. Then, you have the burning ghats, and there is no way I can describe them, well I will try anyway.

The burning ghats are where every Hindu wants to be cremated. And every day, 24 hours a day, dead relatives are being brought through the streets of Varanasi to end up at the burning ghats. A big collection of workers then take sandalwood, and light the bodies on fire, for everybody to see. It might be the most intense place on the planet. 115 degrees, and 20 bodies being burnt around me. Wow, what an intensity to this place.

This life is temporary, i taught me that in a big way. But, I can also feel how life is infinite, India has taught me that, in so many different ways.