Once we arrived in Jhonsi, we were immediately driven to Orchha which is only about 10kms from the train station. It is a very old beautiful town that a Maharaja decided to build his summer palace at and in the end he only stayed there one night, then gave it away. Only about 6,000 people live there so it was very nice and quiet for once. They also let you walk where ever you like in the palace and we actually got lost a few times ending up in strange rooms. It had 134 rooms and 100 rooms for soliders in the basement. After that we had a little lunch and continued the drive to Khuajuraha, where we would be staying the night. We went on a search for alcohol as the next day, the 20th was Woodys birthday! Then we had a good night hanging out at a very nice hotel.

The next day we toured Khuajuraha, known as the Kama Sutra capital of the world. The temples are all covered in images of people having sex. I think the guide said that there were images of 64 different positions. These temples were built 500 years ago and the poeple wanted to have something different than the other cities. There were about 5 temples of this nature. Then we walked around and did some shopping.

That evening we had to drive back to Jhonsi, a nice completely mad/scary 4 hour drive. Most of the time there was just one lane so we are constantly swerving off the road for oncoming cars, trucks, bikes. Amy noticed a strange thing that there use to be 2 lanes and then they just went ahead and paved one lane over the top of the 2 bad lanes. The driver told us that only 30% of the contracted money for road construction goes to road construction. The rest goes to some guys pocket. That is so true of all theroads around India that we have seen.

We were scheduled to leave that night around 9:30pm for a night train to Varanasi, poor Woody spending his birthday night on a train. We were hoping for an individual room with 4 beds as we were in the top class ticket, but it was true Indian style where we the whole train carriage was just all beds, 3 high all up and down the carriage. So there were of course tons of people around but we made the most of it. All night long people keep running into my feet as the beds are made for people who are only 5'10" or shorter.

We arrived at Varanasi at 10am and we were taken to the hotel to freshen up. Varanasi is known as the city of the dead as people come hereto die, so kind of like Florida. The come here to die as Hindus get cremated when they die, unless they die in 1 of 5 exceptions (then they just get sunk by a large rock inthe Ganges), and their ashes get spread into the Ganges. We left around noon for a city tour. Varanasi is also famous as Budha preached his first sermon here to the first 5 deciples. We toured the old town of Sarnath, which is basically in Varanasi. This is where Budha first preached. The ruins of the area were discoveredonly 150 yers ago and the British built a muesum with what they found. There are statues of Budha from 5th century BC when he was first around. Only one building really survived and that was where they think Budha could be burried, but they cant be sure. Then we headed back into the city and saw a university and a few more temples dedicated to Shiva, pretty much their main god.

That night the hotel again didnt hav hot water, so we got a little angry at them as they lie to us about it being a problem and then they go ahead and tell us later that it is low season so they shut things down. Everywhere we have stayed has been very nice accomodation, 3 star places but everywhere there are problems as they have shut a lot of things down. It is just not good service, so we are looking forward to complaining to the people in Delhi when we see them.

We didnt do much that night as we had to get up at 4:45am today, yes I said today, I have finally caught up with these blogs!!! The guide said we would get to see the real India ad we most certainly did. We went down to the Ganges and went on a dawn boat ride. Here we saw all sorts of stuff going on. First of all you walk down a whole bunch of steps to the rivers edge and there are just people sleeping everywhere. Varanasi definitely has the most homeless people compared to every other city we have seen. There are people everywhere that look like they are on there last legs, and espically a lot of kids, it is really terrible.

We boarded a boat of sorts and a guy rowed us along the river bank, by all the stairs. We could see people of course washing themselves, swimming, doing the washing, praying, doing yoga, and lastly but most sadly dead people being burnt. Yes the cremation happens out in the open and you could see bodies being burnt, but luckily in not much detail. There were also many bodies just lying there under yellow tarps waiting their turn. It was vry gruesome but a part of the peoples life, I mean poepl were wshing clothes about 20 meters from where they were burning bodies and putting the ashes into the water. We then turned the boat around and went to the other crematorium and got out. The chance for us to go see the dead bodies up close and watch the act was given to us, of which we would have to pay for, but of course we declined as I dont really want to see a dead person. We walked trhough the area where this all happens and only the male relatives are allowed to be present. Firstly they carry the bodies through the streets to the river and at the river they buy everything, the clothes they eill be burned in, the wood that they will burn in, the decorations they will wear. It was all strange seeing the people bartering over the price of the wood. After a long walk through narrow alleyways filled with human and animal stuff, we finally got out of the place and back into the car. The whole area of course had a terrible smell.

We went back to the hotel, and showered off the airborne stuff and packed and left for the airport. I think that we had all had enough of being in Indian cities and were glad to be heading somewhere different. Woody and I talked about how we felt about the people and we both agreed that they all just go a little to far, in there haggling over crap that you have no interest in buying (for example once we were followed around the whole temple for 30 minutes by one guy trying to sell us postcards, in the end i had to turn to him and yell at him to stop), to the personal space, to the blatant stairing and following of us. But we all know that India isnt really ready for mass tourism like the rest of Asia. Overall though it had been a fantastic experience, we have eaten so much curry and naan (none of it actually spicey though, I think that is Southen Indian cooking), we have seen many amazing things, from the very rich to the very poor. It definitely makes you appreciate everything you have no matter how little you may think it is it is nothing compared to most of Indians.

Our flight from Varanasi of course left late, but we made it to Katmadu with no problems. Things seem much cheaper here as internet is 25 cents a minute!! So we are really excited for a final 2 days with Woody and Tomo until Japan.

Hi to all and a big only slightly belated Happy birthday to Shaun and Mindy!