now India...

I was on such a roll there for awhile with the posts and since we hit Nepal and they have peetered out, I am sort of at a loss for where I am and what's been happening and how I have ended up in India, BAM! Here I am in India and it's whooo-boy, something else.

A few thoughts by bullet point: as i write this we are doing internet in a little space right off one of the small alleys that leads to the the ghat where the cremation occurs on the Ganges and every few minutes a group of men come though holding a dead body wrapped in fabric, adorned with marigolds and golden ribbon...interesting, unexpected...india.

- I have become very interested in the cultivation of wheat after watching the Nepalese so intensively work on it and had an 8 hour bumpy bus ride to consider these things as we came down towards the flatlands of the border to India...with a screw digging into my side.
-The roads in Nepal have not been worked on or improved since they were built in the 70's and they zig zag along very steep ridges.
- the water in the river at the bottom of these ridges is a milky green and once or twice i thought that it might not be such a bad place to end up in...
- Crossing the Nepal-India border was crazy. The customs in India was a group of men with those cool curly mustaches just hanging out and happy to see us and give us a stamp..."welcome to India" and  it really was mad trying to get to our bus which we were told would only be 7 hours to  Varanasi and turned out to be 12 hours along a rough bumpy path, not a road! AND we got ripped off 3 times before even setting off...yes, it is true, and I am not ashamed to say that we paid for our bus ticket 3 times, to 3 different men, one of whom gave Mike the stare down of a lifetime....my heart palpitated a few times as I almost smacked the guy but all was ok and we learned that you must be firm and unwavering...hey, Border towns are always kind of freaky deaky.
-the road from Saunali to Varanasi probably isn't even on a map, that's how nonexistent it is.
-At one point when they turned the inside lights of the bus off, we were driving in pitch black...has anyone seen Hostel? I haven't but Mike kindly reminded me of the Tourist Torture movie during this very moment...nah, it was just interested to see the distant candle lights that lit the houses of the villages. so I am a newbie to India, didn't realise that they only had electricity for a certain part of the day and then rely on candle or generators...
- somehow we all managed to get some sleep crammed into the crowded bus but were jolted awake when the bus went over huge potholes and our bodies would be lifted into the air, but somehow we made it into Varanasi at 4AM...interesting transitioning into a country in the dark...feels like you are either doing something illegal, or sneaky, or it's just a bit eerie. and when that country is India, you really have something coming when you see it in the light. BAM!
-we got a motorized rickshaw to take us somewhere cheap to sleep for the 6 hours and then we figures we make our way to the Ganges and get a proper Guesthouse close to the action when we had come to.
-i don't know that I have come to yet?
-it's hot but this is the cool season
-yes, there is lots of cow shit (the only proper way to say it) all over the alley ways and cows are the kings that wander freely
-the ganges is bigger than i had thought and yes, people swim and bathe in that baby as if it were pure glacier water in the alps.
-can you say colour! sarees and bangle shops galore! I could see it becoming addictive if one were to even begin to indulge so I think I will refrain.
-really the list could go on and on and on and on....my time in nearly up.

We just went to see a Bollywood movie and it was awesome in all of it's Hindi glory. It was pretty easy to follow but I just love 'em with all the dancing and absolute cheeseball scenes. They know how to do it! We saw the previews to a couple more coming out next week for Devali (huge festival here) and we are there! We are headed back down to the Ganges tonight to watch this ritual they do every night, more on that later, and tomorrow early we will take a boat ride down the river and then chill the day away until we take the train (no more buses!) to Delhi and meet up with Nate, McKay and Karan! Can't wait.

later.

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