Sensory Overload

Today has been a pretty intense day. Varanasi is an amazing city and I would highly recommend taking the time to experience it first hand if you ever find yourself in India, but I've been pretty sick and we covered a lot of ground today, so I've been experiencing some serious sensory overload.

We started off with a 6am sunrise boat tour of the Ganges (a sacred/healing river in Varanasi). Here, we saw an breathtaking view of the city, a beautiful sunrise on the water, people bathing in the sacred waters (most clothed, others... not so much), men washing sheets (Heather was pleased to see that it was men rather than women), and two cremation areas--one at the north end of the city and the other at the south end. One of the main reasons people come to Varanasi is to have their loved ones cremated and the ashes put into the Ganges. Hindu's believe in reincarnation, but they also believe that by laying a body to rest in this way (in the Ganges) their soul will finally be at peace with the Gods and therefore will not need to be reincarnated (for all my Hindu friends--please correct me if I have this wrong!). Seeing the city and Ganges from the boat was really cool, but with the "bumper car" like maneuvering and an upset stomach, I was quite relieved when we finally docked.

However, the next portion of the tour included walking around the cremation area at the south end of the city and up through the winding streets (where cows often left surprises in the road for you). Again, my stomach was on the rocks! Luckily, we got to sit briefly inside a shop after a quick glimpse at the Golden Temple (I think that little break saved me!). After our walking tour of the city, we went back to the hotel for breakfast. Naturally, I wasn't really in the mood to eat, but I was extremely relieved to have made it through the morning without throwing up and felt much better after a hot shower. We had time to rest for a bit as well (thank goodness!), and then it was back to the city.

The second half of the day was much easier to handle. We went to a Buddhist Museum and ruins (both were really well kept and a night change from the craziness of the streets). Our next destination was a silk factory, but on the way there we got stuck in an ally way because a fight had broken out just in front of us. A few men chased down one man, knocked him to the ground and were stomping on him and kicking him. Heather and I were pretty shocked by the scene and immediately locked our doors. Our guide reacted a bit differently--he rolled down his window to ask one of the bystanders what was going on and then chuckled a bit as he rolled up his window. As we drove past our guide explained that the man was trying to steal something from the shop. I suppose he considered this justice, but Heather and I were still a little disturbed by the it.

Luckily, the silk shop was a much better experience and pulled us out of our melancholy moods. I fell in love with one of the extravagant silk saris and some of the silk fabric, but my practical side won out and I settled for some scarfs. By the time we stopped for lunch (around 2)--I was still a bit sick, but feeling much better.

I have to back track momentarily to tell you the best thing that happened to me today--Early (like 3am ish) this morning I was in and out of consciousness because of my stomach and I had a light bulb moment and realized that I was actually prepared for "Delhi-Belly"--I had a prescription (Cipro--a must for first time India travelers) to handle just that! Usually I am pretty anti-drugs of any type... but the reminder of the pills kept coming back to me. So, finally, just before our sunrise boat ride, I gave in and started the doses (2 pills a day for 3 days). I was amazed to find out that I was about 90% cured by the time we boarded our train that afternoon for Agra (only two pills in)! And thank goodness for that because the bathrooms on the sleeper train that night were not so great (to say the least)!

More about the train ride to come... must sleep....