Sitting still

The morning that I made the last post I wasn't feeling 100%. A short while afterwards I felt rotten. I thought I'd maybe dehydrated a bit even though I drink about three litres plus of water and tea a day. Seven litre bottles of water later I felt a bit better. I still had no strength and couldn't be bothered. So I drank three more litres and actually had to go to the loo. I think the constant 100 degree plus just got to me. I'd met two young lads from Dundee with a London girl tagging along and they were great fun. We sat at night and played cards and had a good laugh. I felt better when they said that they (at 20) were flagging in the heat. It was bad ebnough for me to cancel my travel arrangements and spend another day in Jodhpur.

The bus to Agra was an experience. It was a 2x2. Which was new to me! It' a high single decker with reclining seats (2x2) but above the seats are platforms double bed width. I couldn't get one of those by booking late. Apparently it's just a random process of who is in which bed. You could be next to anyone. That's India! There was one bed with seven Indians in it. That's typical though. If you see Westerners in a rickshaw there will be two or three. If they're Indian there will be nine or ten.

Agra and the Taj Mahal. To be honest I wasn't all that impressed. For a start it's a rip off at 750 Rs entrance fee. Thats 9.25. It's a marble building. It's got bugger all inside it and it takes about half an hour to look at everything. Watching the guy cutting the grass with a pair of oxen pulling the mower took five minutes of that. I've been in Jainist temples with every marble surface delicately carved - that's impressive. So I was glad that I'd decided to take the hit with a huge journey and not be staying there.

I'm now in Varanassi which is the top right of India compared to the top left where I've been since arrival. This is the holiest Indian Hindu city. It's on the river Ganges (which I can spit in from my hotel room window! And I have!) It's famous for its Ghats. These are steps on the river bank that let you walk down and into the river. They use the river for everything but the most obvious thing is the death and cremation. It is thought that if you die in this city you are absolved of all sins etc etc. So they come here to die. Then, within 24 hours the body is taken to one of two burning ghats and cremated. Right there, very little fuss or bother. Woman aren't allowed (because they cry too much an old man told me!). First they wash the body in the river. It's sewn up in muslin and on a bamboo stretcher. They build a wooden pyre about two feet high. Put the body on it a bit more wood then get a flame from the sacred fire and light it. This afternoon I counted 23 on the go at once and as I left, in the 5 minutes it took me to walk up to the main street four more bodies came passed. (Being carried I hasten to add - not by themselves!) You always seem to see the feet sticking out and every so often (actually it seems quite common) the leg burns through and the lower leg falls off. A man with two sticks comes round and chucks it back in. I've also noticed that the skull burns really slowly and stays a creamy colour. I was told it takes three hours to burn everything. Toward the end the blokes keep battering something which I was later told is the chest of a man or the bum of a woman as they take the longest. It just looked like a congealed black lump. I knew that certain bodies weren't cremated, kids, pregnant woman, live ones etc. It wasn't until this afternoon I saw what happens. They take the body down and do the washing etc Then two blokes struggle down with what looked like a paving slab from the top of the ghat. They tie the body to this and plunk it on the bow of a rowing boat. Then, without any word the bloke starts rowing. The family just turned and left but I watched the boat. They got out to the middle and as the rower turned the boat an old man stood up, lifted the body's feet and let it slide in. No fuss, no bother and I don't even think he took the fag out of his gob.
The dogs are always chewing dubious black lumps but I don't even want to think about that.
Of course you don't have to see that if you don't want but everyone I've talked to agrees that there is a morbid fascination about it.
I'm feeling much better. The temp here is pleasantly in the low 80s and you don't have to hide from the sun for most of the day. I'm here for a while because the ghats are a great place to just sit and chill and my hotel is nice (and cheap). I've got an idea of my next few stops and I'm fairly sure I'll go to Darjeeling after all. I'll have to buy some warm clothes if I do. Only drawback with that is that people will think I'm wearing Vinces hand me downs!!
Going now the hotel said something about a barbeque I think!