Day 50
Somehow we all woke up at 0430 for our wake-up call, although several people were passed out on the bus all morning. We left the hotel to head back to the Ganges to watch the morning bathing ritual.
Guess who was there to greet me as I stepped off the bus. The same boy from last night. He was still trying to sell me bindis. He wanted Kelly and I to buy a whole sheet of them. Each sheet had about 20 cards, each with six or seven bindis on them. We told him we would buy maybe one or two cards, but there was no way we would get an entire sheet. What would we do with that? He wouldn't sell the cards separately, though. He said he had to buy the whole thing as one, and that's how he sold it. Plus, he wanted $20 for it! We told him sorry, we weren't going to buy that much.
I felt bad because he had been so helpful the night before, and we wanted to repay him somehow. We just weren't going to pay even 200 rupees for something we didn't want.
The cremation grounds are also on the river. There are actually several different places along the banks where you can be cremated, but one of them is so popular they say the fire has never gone out. We floated back downstream to see it and got out of the boat just beyond it. There was a cremation going on, which for some reason was a surprise to me. We walked up the stairs above it and watched for a few minutes. Smoke had turned the buildings black behind the grounds.
The streets were filthy, and they smelled. We walked back to the buses through the narrow streets. Despite their size, a motorcycle was making his way through, and so was a cow. There was trash everywhere. People were dumping what I hope was water out of their doorways. Some people were sleeping on doorsteps or ledges. It smelled awful.
Then the vendors found us. Again. Kelly and I bought a single card of bindis each from one guy. Why wouldn't the other boy sell them separately too? It wasn't long before he found us again. He seemed pretty irritated, saying we promised to buy some from him. I just told him, “you know what, we're sorry. We wanted to buy from you. But you weren't going to give us what we wanted, and there's no way we would buy what we didn't want.” I was fed up with people harassing me for things I didn't want.
Back on the bus, we took a tour of the city. We went to a devi temple and drove through the oldest living city in the world. Varanasi has been a center of civilization and learning for over 2500 years. They call it “the heart beat of India.”
Finally, we returned to the hotel for some breakfast, and they gave us an hour before we could go on a shopping trip. The shopping was at a silk factory where we could watch them weave the patterns of silk. They have to fit the loom with six thousand to seven thousand threads before starting to weave. After they start weaving the pattern, they only accomplish two to three centimeters a day. The shop had all kinds of gorgeous silk things: scarves, wall hangings, place-mats, tablecloths, purses and bedspreads.
It was time to go gather our stuff at the hotel and head to the airport after about an hour. I wasn't ready to leave. Four days is not enough time to really take in all of the sites. Our flights got us back on the ship at about 2300. There was a huge line to go through security, and the dock smelled horrible. It's dirty in India. There were three trips of about 70 people getting back at around the same time. Luckily, most of them were behind me. The last people in line probably didn't get back to their rooms until after 0100.
Somehow we all woke up at 0430 for our wake-up call, although several people were passed out on the bus all morning. We left the hotel to head back to the Ganges to watch the morning bathing ritual.
Guess who was there to greet me as I stepped off the bus. The same boy from last night. He was still trying to sell me bindis. He wanted Kelly and I to buy a whole sheet of them. Each sheet had about 20 cards, each with six or seven bindis on them. We told him we would buy maybe one or two cards, but there was no way we would get an entire sheet. What would we do with that? He wouldn't sell the cards separately, though. He said he had to buy the whole thing as one, and that's how he sold it. Plus, he wanted $20 for it! We told him sorry, we weren't going to buy that much.
I felt bad because he had been so helpful the night before, and we wanted to repay him somehow. We just weren't going to pay even 200 rupees for something we didn't want.
So we climbed into a huge boat and rowed down the river. Steps follow the banks all the way down the river because so many people come to it every day to bathe or wash their clothes. The sun came up as we were rowing upstream. It reflected beautifully off of the buildings and stairs. Several of the buildings were hotel-like places where people come with their families to die. Hindus believe that if they die on the holy river, hearing the name of Krishna, they can escape the cycle of rebirth and their brahma (soul) will join Brahma (the universal soul).
The cremation grounds are also on the river. There are actually several different places along the banks where you can be cremated, but one of them is so popular they say the fire has never gone out. We floated back downstream to see it and got out of the boat just beyond it. There was a cremation going on, which for some reason was a surprise to me. We walked up the stairs above it and watched for a few minutes. Smoke had turned the buildings black behind the grounds.
The streets were filthy, and they smelled. We walked back to the buses through the narrow streets. Despite their size, a motorcycle was making his way through, and so was a cow. There was trash everywhere. People were dumping what I hope was water out of their doorways. Some people were sleeping on doorsteps or ledges. It smelled awful.Then the vendors found us. Again. Kelly and I bought a single card of bindis each from one guy. Why wouldn't the other boy sell them separately too? It wasn't long before he found us again. He seemed pretty irritated, saying we promised to buy some from him. I just told him, “you know what, we're sorry. We wanted to buy from you. But you weren't going to give us what we wanted, and there's no way we would buy what we didn't want.” I was fed up with people harassing me for things I didn't want.
Back on the bus, we took a tour of the city. We went to a devi temple and drove through the oldest living city in the world. Varanasi has been a center of civilization and learning for over 2500 years. They call it “the heart beat of India.”
Finally, we returned to the hotel for some breakfast, and they gave us an hour before we could go on a shopping trip. The shopping was at a silk factory where we could watch them weave the patterns of silk. They have to fit the loom with six thousand to seven thousand threads before starting to weave. After they start weaving the pattern, they only accomplish two to three centimeters a day. The shop had all kinds of gorgeous silk things: scarves, wall hangings, place-mats, tablecloths, purses and bedspreads.
It was time to go gather our stuff at the hotel and head to the airport after about an hour. I wasn't ready to leave. Four days is not enough time to really take in all of the sites. Our flights got us back on the ship at about 2300. There was a huge line to go through security, and the dock smelled horrible. It's dirty in India. There were three trips of about 70 people getting back at around the same time. Luckily, most of them were behind me. The last people in line probably didn't get back to their rooms until after 0100.
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