to Varanasi

Yesterday Karuna and I flew to Varanasi (the train was full).  We got in around 10:30, took an hour long taxi ride to the hostel we were staying at, and wandered town.  There were wild monkeys just kinda hanging out all over.  It was kinda funny.  

funny little monkey

I spent a lot of the day trying to get good pictures of holy cows :)

holy cow!

 We walked a little over a mile upriver and then took a boat ride back down.  I like being on the water.  Then we walked around a bunch more looking for a bathroom and got a little on the lost side, but eventually found our way back to the river.  We had some afternoon snacks at a cool rooftop restaurant, where we stayed until it got dark.  People set lit candles into the river, which was cool to see from up high.  Then we went to the nightly ritual aarti, that uses fire as a means to remove darkness.  It's also an offering to Shiva.  After the aarti, we walked back toward the hostel and ate at a random restaurant on the way.  We got back to the hostel and headed to bed early, so we could get up for the sunrise.
This morning was pretty foggy, so we didn't get a boat ride right at sunrise.  We did the same walk and boat ride we did yesterday, then walked farther downriver.  We ate breakfast at a different rooftop restaurant and enjoyed the peacefulness of morning.  We wandered around some more and headed back to the hostel for checkout at noon.  Then we took an auto-rickshaw to the airport.  It was a fun ride.

boats on the Ganges

 We flew on Spice Jet Airlines

Teddy went on Spice Jet

When we got back to Delhi, we went to Karuna's, unloaded, then went out to dinner and to the market for some breakfast food.  It's early to bed so I can wake up in time for the Super Bowl!!

Varanasi history/Hindi importance:
There are a bunch of different myths about why Varanasi is important.  Some of them say that there was a battle betwene Vishnu and Krishna there, in which Shiva came out as the winner.  Some say that "Varanasi is the city of the Lord Shiva, who walked here with his wife Parvati at the beginning of time.  It could also be the battlefield were the god Krishna set fire to a duplicate but imposter Krisha, or the place where the Lord Rama came to do pennance after slaying the demon Ravana."  At any rate, most of them agree that the River Ganga will wash away human sins.  "According to Hindu legend, those who are cremated in Varanasi will achieve enlightenment and be free of hte cycle of death and rebirth.  Nearly 300 bodies are cremated there every day."
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/the-holy-city-of-varanasi-42862228/?page=2
http://www.newgrowthdevelopment.com/node/29
http://www.spiritualjourneys.net/Venues/varanasi.htm
http://www.varanasi.org.in/ganga-aarti