Dec 16 Varanasi

This morning I woke up at 5:30 a.m. and walked down to Assi Ghat to watch the sunrise over the Ganges. At sunrise is when most people, especially women, come down to the river to bathe and to perform pujas--prayer rituals.

As the sun rose, so did the noise along the bank. One man sitting on a platform was belting laughter so loud I could hear him from upstream long before I could see him. To raise his arms high and let out this laughter is part of his daily spiritual routine--an exercise in spreading joy and happiness.

This city intrigues me. People come to a city rotting in its own bile for enlightenment. The men's mouths are so stuffed with this chewing tobacco called paan that they can't speak but just drool on themselves. And the walls of the ghats serve as a public toilet that stretchs the entire length of the river's run through the city. The pilgrims lay their prayers and their plastic wastes on these waters simultaneously. As much as this city intrigues me, it fails to strike me as a holy city at any time other than sunrise. It's a wasteland freak show. But it's still one of the most fascinating places I've ever been.

The combination of filth and elegance in Varanasi somehow comes together in a homogenous concoction of humanity.

Yes Madame? A boat for you?

Taking a few steps back...

Dec 15 Varanasi

I left Dharamsala on Friday night for Delhi. Phoebe and I were supposed to travel together to Varanasi, but Friday morning she got sick and was too nauseous to get on the bus. Since my time in India is running up, I opted to travel on alone.

I arrived in Delhi early Saturday morning just as the sun was coming up. The full moon was still out in the smoggy sky. I was really nervous about traveling by myself, but so far it has gone quite smoothly and I've felt rather safe the whole way through. The train makes me a bit stressed. The tickets are so poorly marked and there are no signs on the platforms telling which trains are coming and going. And in the words of the boy who sat across from me, "Indian Railway--always late. If not late, then it wouldn't be Indian Railway." This morning the train was supposed to arrive at 7:30am. 7:30 came and went, then 8:30, then 9:30 and I was panicked I had somehow missed the stop. But I was reassured the train was "only" 2 hours late--apparently that's not so bad.

And I made it.

I was walking along the ghats of the Ganges this afternoon when a little girl selling prayer candles ran up beside me. I had already shook off about five of these kids selling candles, but this one made me cave. She popped up beside me and said, "Hi! What's your name? I'm Anita. Would you like a prayer candle for a blessing for your family? It will give everyone good health and karma."

I told her that Anita was my grandmother's name, and now I have a cousin named Anita who is the same age as her.

"Where is your cousin?" She asked.

"In America."

"There's an Anita who lives in America?!" She was so excited that there was an Anita in India and in America. I bought a prayer candle surrounded by marigolds from her, and she lit it and placed it in the Ganges, softly splashing water at it to float it away from the bank. And off it drifted down the river carrying its prayers for the health and good karma of the family.

For each candle she sets adrift for Western tourists, I hope Anita places her own prayers.

Finally

I'm home!!! But it's too cold here. So I'm going to turn around and go right back. Maybe not right back. I think I'll have to work off the debt from this trip first. And by then it'll be warm again. Oh well. It was fun.

On the move again

I'm leaving Dharamsala tonight for Varanasi with a friend. I'll stay there until the 17th, then will take the train back to Delhi and go straight to the airport to fly home.

I'm all packed up and excited for Varanasi, but I'm dreading the 12hr bus ride down the mountain. I have mixed feelings about leaving Dharamsala, too. This morning I walked the Kora that circles the temple and spent about an hour sitting in the sun under the prayer flags watching the eagles. I figured it's the best way to feel a good bye, like in Catcher in the Rye.

Now it's on to Varanasi to get the shit kicked out of my senses one last time to draw my travels to a close.

International Human Rights Day

Lama Dances

Lama...not Llama...just to get things straight right off the bat.

The Sherabling Monastery in Bir hosted the Lama Dances yesterday. It's a day-long performance that celebrates the eight manifestations of Buddha (the Lamas). The performance ran from 9am until around 6pm, with occasional recesses for chai.

It was on par with any broadway musical as far as elaborate costuming goes. The Lama dances are a 300 year old tradition that ended when China invaded Tibet in 1959. This is the third year since the tradition was reestablished in exile.

Bir is another Tibetan refugee community down in the valley about 2 hours from Dharamsala. I hired a cab to get to the monastery where I met up with my friend Khenrab, who had been in Bir since Thursday filming a documentary about the dances. He actually grew up in Bir, and everyone he introduced me to was either a brother, sister, cousin, in-law, or something familial.

Last night after the dances I stayed in a guest house then rode back up to McLeod with Khenrab on his bike. Turns out extended rides on motorcycles aren't very comfortable, especially with camera gear strapped to your back. And to make the ride more enjoyable, I got stung by a bee on my hand. If you blow up a latex glove like a balloon--that's what my hand looks like now. Maybe in the end it was fortunate, though. Khenrab pulled off the road to make sure I was ok, and right below us there were two brown bears sleeping.

Changing the subject: I booked my bus ticket for Delhi. I'm leaving McLeod Friday night, getting in to Delhi Saturday morning, and hopefully leaving the same day by train for Varanasi for the remainder of my stay. I'm traveling with my friend Phoebe, and will be meeting up with some other volunteers in Varanasi. I'll take the train from Varanasi back to Delhi to arrive the morning of Dec 18, get all my luggage, then head to the airport to catch my flight that takes off at 1:00a.m. 19 Dec.