Post for Varanasi, 11/25

Post for Varanasi, 11/25

First picture is straight out of the movies—sunrise over the Ganges! Cue music—say sitar and tabla—and you’re on your way to an epic film. It IS beautiful, and none of our difficulties can change that.
One set of difficulties involved the way-too-many guides who hung out at the guest-house each of whom thought he should take us the two boat rides (morning and evening) that many tourists take to see the ghats. Ghats are sections of river frontage associated with a specific temple or structure. There are over 90 of them strung along 4 miles of the left bank of the Ganges, and picture #2 is one of them, taken from our morning rowboat ride. That’s Dave’s head in the bottom right of the picture.
Two of the ghats are for cremation of human bodies, and we found it disturbing to sit a few yards offshore, stationed by our guide for the best view, and watch the performance of the rites and then the ignition of the body. (The ceremonies are costly, and the family of the deceased pays extra for sandalwood as fuel.) Even though no one enforced the widely quoted rule against photography there, we didn’t take any pictures. We finally got the guide to move on.
Picture #3 is of a Nepali Temple above the ghats, featuring wood carvings of great beauty. This temple was shown us by our guide on a walk through the narrow alleys behind the ghats. There are many shops in these alleys selling everything. Our guide, as do most, gets a commission for bringing tourists to the shop. Reade had made the mistake of mentioning earlier that she’d like to buy some tea, though she had opted out of this particular walk with the guide. One minute we were tromping along doing our best to avoid dung heaps and items for sale; the next minute we were asked to step through a door, turn right and duck into another small room. There was a happy tea seller (picture #4). We sat and chatted and had some of his tea, and then Denise bought some, and was a happy tea buyer (picture #5). Note: this was all legal Darjeeling tea, for sipping!
As we walked along, I noticed a cow tied to an alley wall. I had understood that cows were free to roam under the tenets of Hinduism, so I took a picture. Reade and I quizzed several guides over the two weeks we were in India as to the treatment and management of cattle and other animals. We never did get a clear answer from any of them. When I took picture #6 I hadn’t noticed the ads on the walls of the alley. They sum up my experience of India exactly, which is why I call this picture “Internet Cow.”
Picture #7 is from our second boatride, to see the nightly ceremonies.

Paul