Goodbye India, Hello Nepal.

After 2 days of harrowing train and bus travel I have finally arrived in Kathmandu, Nepal, and left behind the heat of India. I left yesterday afternoon at 1:00 pm to Gwalior, India, then stayed the night there at a beautiful little place across from the train station/refugee camp, then woke up at 430am to catch the 5am bus to the border that actually didn't leave until every inch of bus was filled; which wasn't till 530am I'm sure they would have loved to take out all the seats and maker everyone stand. Crossing the border was a breeze, except the part where I had to pay 100$ American for my Visa. I guess I was the last one to find out they changed their policy 8 months ago. After 30 days it goes straight to 90 days and 100 dollars. Luckily, being the wise traveler I had some Benjamin's tucked away in the rucksack so I was able tolegally enter the country. Then it was a 9 hour journey to Kathmandu on a micro bus, which means regular bus just smaller and more uncomfortable, still driven like formula one vehicle. The "micro-bus" had a low head clearance, even when I ducked I still bonked my head. The seats were smaller and didn't recline, the windows weer smaller too. Nepal is famous for their shabby buses, I guess it's just part of the charm of this place.

I'm grateful for the break from India. I had a great time and everyday was an adventure. But all the noise and hassles of the big cities were starting to get to me. Plus down on the plains of Utter Pradesh where I had been visiting Varanasi and Agra, it was starting to get very hot. In Varanasi for the 5 days that I was there, every day it got 1 centigrade hotter, all the way up to 37 on the day before I left, which is nearly 100 degrees fahrenheit.

Varanasi was an amazing city. It is situated right on the banks of the Ganges river, and it is one of the holiest places on India. It is full of color, holy people, pilgrims coming to pray. It seemed like life in this city revolve around the river. In the early AM hours men and women would visit to the banks to play, give puja and wash themselves in the polluted water. This would start before dawn and seemed to go all day, picking up again in the evening hours. Besides bathing, there was also laundry being done, cows being washed, and bodies being cremated, right on the banks, or Ghats of the river. There are 2 main burning ghats that are used for cremation. When someone dies their body is wrapped in a red and gold cloth, then places on a bamboo scaffolding and marched to the river by the family members. They then buy the wood and start the ceremony by dipping the body on the Ganges before the cremation. They say it takes about 3 hours for the whole process. This goes on almost 24 hours a day, never really stopping. It is very surreal and adds to the energy of the place. people have said sometimes you'll see a dog walking by with someones hip bone. Not all people are cremated though. Infants for example, as well as holy men are not burned. Instead they are wrapped in a white cloth, tied to stones and dropped in the Ganga. Not how we would do it, but in India, everything is much different and spiritual. The whole country is extremely spiritual, every city you visit, you are told that there is a temple that you must see. Any time the bus passes a temple every will touch their hearts and forehead and mutter a prayer. In any side street or ally you are bound to find other small temples or alters. Indians don't really have a church, but they are constantly praying.

I may have mentioned how traffic is pretty crazy in India, and part of that is due to the types of transport used, not only are there millions of people trying to get somewhere, but they assume a wide variety of vehicles to engage in their commerce. At any time you will see centuries of transport clogging the highways, all at the same time. You have your super fast Honda motorcycles maneuvering in between a ox drawn cart of crops and a man powered cart of vegetables on its way to the market. There will be tractors, sometimes pulling goods, and sometimes the flat bed is just full of people. The private car is a small minority of traffic. And it will usually have twice as many people in it as it was designed for. So the amount of vehicles, and the speed in which they have been designed to travel cause quite a mess on the road ways. Another thing I loved/loathed about India was the rail crossings. Any time the bars came down for a passing train, on both sides all traffic would spread across all lanes of traffic on their side of the tracks, buses, trucks motorcycles all thought they deserved a spot at the front of the line. Then when the bars are raised, it's total honking chaos as both side try to extricate themselves from the mess they put themselves in. It's against their genetic to form a proper line and smoothly passover the tracks. They must muscle in for the best position,even though it may take 10 minutes to straighten it all out.

Just doing some reminiscing about the India Experience, I'll soon post my last batch of photos once I find a place with suitable computers in Kathmandu.