The Pearce family has had a really good weekend. We started off on Saturday having lunch at I:ba, a nice Japanese owned cafe. While the food was not great, the atmosphere was so nice. It was clean, comfortable, and cold. Lots of restaurants are not air conditioned so being in one with AC was nice.
We came home, got the kids down for naps, took a short rest ourselves, and then CL and I went to Gadolia. Gadolia is the main shopping area in Varanasi. It has all the practical household stuff and then all the touristy stuff too. We went by public auto rickshaw. Better be sure your life insurance is paid up. These guys drive like NY City cabbies. I really wanted to find a cool Indian ring. I have rings from Greece and Italy. They are unique; therefore, I wanted this ring to be really special. My sweet son sat for more than an hour in the jewelry store and poured over rings with me until we found just the right one. The sales person brought us orange sodas. He must have thought we were rich Americans. ;-)
CL and I went to find someone who made dolaks. A dolak is a drum you beat on both ends. They are really fun instruments. We found a shop and actually watched a man as he was making one. We mainly wanted to see them being made and find out what they cost. It is amazing to think they can make a dolak for 1000 rupees or roughly $20.00.
After leaving the dolak shop, we wandered the streets of Gadolia. It reminded me of Chinatown. People everywhere. We got a much calmer rickshaw driver on our way home.
Kirsten had made a wonderful soup for dinner. It was full of veggies and she made toasted cheese sandwiches. Kirsten is amazing in the kitchen. She has so little to work with but every meal is really good.
I went to bed early sine I had to get up at 5:00 am for the walk and boat ride through Varanasi. Of course the first thing I did when I got up was check the score of the AL/Ole Miss game. It was half time and I was disappointed to see the score was 17 - 7. By the time we left for our walk Alabama had put up another 14 points on the score board. CL texted us the final score and I was really happy to see those Black Bears fall. (Sorry Ole Miss friends. That’s just the way I roll!!!!)
We met our guide, Garima by the Assi Ghat. We got on a boat and began our journey to the burning ghat. The sun was just coming up and it was cool. The view from the river was great. Varanasi is the oldest city in India. Not only is it old, it is quite dirty; however, the view from the water is a different story. It was simply amazing to see people bathing in the Ganga. They come to cleanse their bodies and pray to their gods. They also wash their clothes in the river. Young, old, male, female, skinny, fat...doesn’t matter. They believe by bathing in the river they are made pure. They even brush their teeth with the river water.
We finally got to the burning ghat. We were able to take pictures from a distance; however, there were 6 families giving their loved one up to the gods, so we had to be discreet. So, as I understand it, the dead body is transported to the river. It is carried through the streets draped in cloths. The son of the dead person shaves his head and touches no one for 13 days. If you are a widow, pregnant, been bitten by a snake, or have a skin disease you may not be burned and have your ashes placed in the Ganga. According to our guide, each fire is started with a coal that has been burning for a 1000 years. They first unwrap the body down to the white cloths. Then they dip the body in the river. Then they place it in the fire. We watched this process with many other tourists. I guess they are accustomed to having people watch; but I felt a little awkward.
We left the burning ghat and began a walk through the alleys of Varanasi. I am not kidding when I say alleys. Trees were growing through the sidewalks and they would touch both sides of the buildings in the alleys. We saw several temples. We witnessed people bathing in a pool that was supposed to cleanse. We watched people pray to their gods at make shift temples. This place is amazing. Speaking of amazing, The Amazing Race shot an episode here last season. A guy CL spoke to regularly and practiced his Hindi was in the episode. Kirsten pointed out all the places we went that were on tv. I love the Amazing Race so I was quite excited to see all the places.
I got way more information than I could ever process. By the time we finished walking we were in Gadolia. I had no idea we had walked that far. We took a public auto rickshaw back home. After being out almost 5 hours, showers were in order. Dominoes delivered our Chicken Golden Delight pizza for lunch. At this point everyone is resting. It has been a really good weekend filled with fun and relaxation. It is hard to believe I only have one more weekend in Varanasi. Now that i finally feel good, I am beginning to like the place. Headed home in 15 days! Awe, America! How i love you!
Until later! Have a good week.
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