It's been a while... And of that reason a lot have happened since I wrote the last time.

I had a good last day at the school, even though the lunch-date got cancelled - instead I got coffee, coconut water and bananas after lunch at the same teacher as I had lunch at the other day. She is so sweet - Rani is her name. When I went on the bus from Mangalam to Tiruvannamalai and had to say goodbye to them all she was almost crying. That's a thing about Indians that I really admire; if they like you - and they are really fast to decide whether they like you or not, and in that way you really fast get considered as their friend - they really, really like you, and they really want to do everything for you, without expecting anything in return. As long as you're happy, they are. They actually really appreciate if you 'bother' them (like asking for help in the middle of the night), because that is a sign of you considering them as your good friend, which means a lot to them. JP from Quo Vadis also took good care of telling us volunteers that we are more than welcome to call him in the middle of the night if we need anything.

I went to Pondicherry as planned where I met up with two Danish girls, Ditte and Lene, who also volunteer in Tamil Nadu. We had a good time together especially on my second day in Pondy where we went to Auro Beach and had very, very nice food. The shopping opportunities were not good at all in Pondy, so I didn't do any shopping, and the wine was too expensive, so I didn't drink any wine either. I however bought some cheese, also really expensive :), which I enjoyed before going to bed early. I didn't feel well in Pondy, so that was really a shame. It wasn't stomach problems but I was unfortunately a bit ill. I was good at sleeping a lot, however, so on my way to Chennai in the bus I was already feeling better - I only had the cold by then, which I still deal with... On my last day in Pondi I went on a so-called Heritage Walk, which was really nice. It wasn't a guided tour or anything - just me walking a walking route, where the French touch is at its most.

I went to Chennai for just one night (which was absolutely terrible because of a horrendous noise from the mosque just nearby my guesthouse which continued all damn night - so loud that I needed to listen to my iPod on max volume to keep the singing, drumming and yelling out) and flew on the 10th to New Delhi. In Delhi airport I was told that it was Holi Festival the day after which is a colour and water festival celebrated by Hindus. And this made the timing perfect 'cause this festival is brilliant! So funny! :)
I left my luggage at the cloak room on the train station after buying a ticket to Varanasi the same night at 8.30pm. Then I went to the main bazaar to have some dinner where I met up with a Dutch guy, Qiurijn. He left fast because he had an earlier train to Varanasi, and when I left the restaurant some time later to get my train I was soaked on the way to the station (because of the festival) - it was really funny, though. At the station I found out that my train was 2 ½ hours late so I went back to the bazaar again where I met four English guys at my age at the colour powder shop. We bought some colour powder and got all messed up on our way to a bar, where we had some beers. It was some really nice hours.
At 11pm I finally got my train and went to Varanasi, where I arrived the day after - on Holi Day. I got a cap (a closed one to avoid water and colour..) together with two Polish guys and in Varanasi we found a nice and really cheap guesthouse near Assi Ghat. Along the river there are about 80 ghats which function as landmarks and make it almost possible to find the way around the small and narrow streets. At 2pm the Polish guys and I finally found an open restaurant being so hungry - we had had no breakfast or lunch... The food, however, took AGES to come: It took 1 ½ hours to make my fruit/yoghurt/cornflakes and 2 hours to make the Polish guys some simple Indian food. And it wasn't even good. We got some food, however. In the night we went along the river and celebrated Holi by getting colour powder on our forehead. We had a nice dinner at a local restaurant and went back to our guesthouse afterwards. I was so tired by then - the night after the mosque night was a night in the train with a man snoring so loudly that you would be able to hear it 50 meters away, I think! I couldn't go to bed immediately, though, because I had got three huge blisters under my feet from all the walking, so I had to take care of them first.
On the 12th I met with Qiurijn and a French friend of his, Vincent, who I had breakfast with and afterwards went to see the Golden Temple with. The Golden Temple is however only accessible if you are Hindu. Q and I then went to the train station to buy tickets for our further travels - and this took a hell of a lot of time. TWO hours! They were so inefficient! Anyway. We got our tickets and went back to Vincent to get some nice lunch - the best thali ever! My right foot was at this point really hurting, while me left foot was doing well. After lunch we met up with the Polish guys and went on a boat trip on the Ganges to view the sunset. By now I almost couldn't walk because of the bad right foot. I got myself onto a bicycle rickshaw and went back to the guesthouse, where I took a footbath and got help from Tomasz, one of the Polish guys, to clean it and look at it. He has been working as a sort of a nurse before and told me that it is a really bad blister that is very deep. It's the kind of blister that can't just get the fluid out of because it is deeper than that - so I need antibiotics to get rid of the damn thing that makes my look like a handicapped person when walking... So annoying.
This very early morning (5am) we went to another boat trip on the Ganges to view the sunrise and I simply couldn't walk on my foot so took a rickshaw as far as possible. After the 'river cruise' we had breakfast and I went here to this internet cafe. After this I am going straight to bed and try to take care of my foot with some more footbaths and antibiotic crème. Hope it will help. At least I have a good reason to read my book all day :) I wonder how I am going to carry my backpack tonight, though.....

I take the train to Agra (Taj Mahal) tonight at 6.15pm and arrive early morning. After Agra I have a train to Jaipur on the 15th, where I arrive the same day. I am looking very forward to Rajasthan! :)

Varanasi is a strange place. It is the most holy Hindu city in India and the Ganges is very holy as well. A lot of people die here because when you die in Varanasi you break the circle of the reincarnation and go straight to heaven. It is the same if you get cremated in Varanasi so there are two ghats where they burn dead people in public, and dead bodies are sometimes seen carried around the city. It is very strange. If you die in birth bed, as a child, or by being bit by a snake you don't get burned but instead you get a stone around your neck and is placed in the Ganges... So a lot of dead people are on the bottom of the Ganges in Varanasi. Lovely. And at the same time, knowing this, people take holy baths in the Ganges with their head UNDER the water! So gross, I think. And they also wash their clothes and alike in the exact same water. Euw!
You probably need to be a very religious Hindu person to understand and do this...

But it is a big experience just looking at people by the ghats, and everything is very colourful. And then I love the narrow streets. It makes the city by the ghats quiet because not even auto rickshaws drive here - so no horns or motors :) almost not, at least...

Hope you're good at home.

All the best,
Signe