Today we walked along the ghats in Varanasi. There is so much going on down there, that you could easily spend days there. Today I got swindled into getting an Aruvedic massage right there in the open! All I did was shake his hand because he introduced himself, and next thing I know, I'm sitting on the ground getting felt up by some strange man saying "don't worry, pay as you like". I've heard that one before. It cost me two hundred rupees just to get him to stop. We also saw a man with dancing monkeys. One monkey was dressed up in little clothes and danced, and the other one played the drums! It was really crazy, but kind of felt sad for the monkeys. Maybe we shouldn't have supported that sort of thing. They had really good rhythm though. There is one more thing that I want to talk about, but I don't think cara wants me to. So here it goes... At the train station a few days ago, a man walked up to me and asked if he could clean my ears. I must have looked puzzled, because he pointed to a whole tool bag with long, skinny tools. I said "okay, is it safe?" He said "don't worry, safe." He sat me down on the concrete, and started Digging in my ear with a giant metal Q-tip. We agreed on twenty rupees. He cleaned out most of the right one, (and I mean big chunks) and then tried to sell me a little bottle of "medicine" for five hundred rupees. I told him no I just wanted my ears cleaned. Then he proceeded to put some drops in my ear, and I said "not extra?", and he said "as you like". It was too late. By this time a large group of people had gathered around me because each time the man pulled out a nice big chunk, he showed it around like a little wax trophy. He let the "medicine" sit in my ear for a couple minutes, and after some digging pulled out something that looked like a fat slug from the depths of my right ear. Then he wanted to charge me more for the other ear. At this point, I was done. I didn't want to pay the ridiculous amount that he was asking to dig around in my fragile ear canal with medieval tools and some mystery medicine. Unfortunately, now everything is a little imbalanced, and I feel like my left ear could really use a cleaning.-ashby

Varanasi to Bodhgaya

Boats along the Ganges

A girl we met playing in the Ganges

Ashby with a cobra around his neck after we encountered a snake charmer

A young monk

Terra Cotta pots and Dias

As Ashby mentioned, we passed through Varanasi on our way to Bodhgaya.

We spent the day walking along the ghats of Varanasi, taking pictures and watching the world go by. I can tell that we will have a great time during our five-day stay in Varanasi...

...But today was our first of two days we will spend here in Bodhgaya. We went to the temple that was erected on the sacred spot where the Buddha obtained enlightenment. The original tree was murdered, but the people were able to save a sapling that is now in Shrilanka. A sapling of the tree in Shrilanka is now here in Bodhgaya, flourishing in the same soil of its sacred parent...

It was really a beautiful experience for me to sit and listen to the chanting of the monks who were praying there, and a truly peaceful energy came over me. The space where the tree sits is a very sweet space and Ashby and I agreed we will go back and sit there again tomorrow! As we were sitting under the tree, I thought to myself that I would really like to have a leaf from the tree, but it wasn't like I was going to pick one...then a leaf dropped and some of the monk quickly rushed to grab it. I realised I could have one too if I was just patient enough to wait till one dropped. I waited and waited but one did not drop, so Ashby and I decided to walk around and look at some other things. Just as we were leaving, I asked Ashby if we could just walk around the tree one more time and hope that one would drop, sure enough as we walked by a leaf dropped right in front of me! Pretty cool!

Anyway...until Varanasi...

-Cara

A Pepil leaf (Boddhi tree leaf)

Inside the temple

Monks at the Boddhi tree

The temple

Another Buddha statue

snake charmer!



This is a scale they use to weigh the wood they use for burning the corpses at the burning gahts.
Getting the perfect amount of wood to incinerate a body is a precise art form. The type of wood used is also important, some are more expensive like sandal wood.



Bodhi tree and temple

We spent yesterday in Varanasi on our way through on the train. Varanasi is a really cool city I'm glad we decided to spend five days there on our way towards Agra and Delhi. The river Ganges runs through it, as well as a couple other rivers. People from all over India go there to die, because it frees you from the cycle of rebirth and death. But more about that later.

Today we were in Bodhgaya. We sat underneath the grand child of the same Bohdi tree that the Buddha attained enlightenment. Not to sound like a hippy or anything, but there was a very serene vibe about the area. It sat next to a giant temple surrounded by a garden. All around us there were monks and nuns from all over the world praying and meditating.-ashby

Khajuraho

We were only able to spend one day in Khajuraho, but I think it was well worth it. We saw the main group of temples here, or the Western group. There are only 25 temples that remain today, from about 85 that used to exist. These temples were built from about AD 950 to 1050 and they were built in only 100 years. It is amazing to me that all these huge temples were built in such a short amount of time! Even more intriguing is the subject portrayed in all the intricate carvings...Kamasutra! Not surprisingly, there is a definite sexual energy here, but I am glad we didn't miss these unique and intriguing temples!

cold shower

We have been in Kujaraho for a day, and it is really cool. This city is famous for it's erotic temples. They were built over a thousand years ago, and they are huge temples covered in intricate carved statues of some pretty lude stuff! No one is really sure why all the sex, but the leading theory is that the people believed that, like meditation, sex was another way to achieve nirvana. Pretty interesting stuff. Now we are on our way to Bodhgaya. Bodhgaya is where prince Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment underneath a bodhi tree twenty-six centuries ago! A temple marks the spot, and a decendant of the same tree is still there. We have officially kicked the trip into overdrive, and booked the remainder of our train tickets. We only have two and a half weeks left, and we are a little sad. We still have a lot to see though, so that's nice.-ashby

Happy Halloween!

This is a cute girl on the farm
she cried when we left.


These monkeys were hanging out by the waterfall
One of them stole some of our food!



This is the family that cooked us dinner by the waterfall

-ashby

Bundi

Since Diwali happened to fall during our journey through Bundi, we've ended up staying in this sleepy town far longer than we had planned...but in the mean time we've definitely kept ourselves busy!

Bundi-with its blue buildings

The second day we were here in Bundi we befriended an Arevedic doctor who whisked us away to show us his farm-where we ate raw peanuts, papaya and guavas.!

Dr. Singh soon invited us to spend Diwali at his house, with his family...we gladly accepted.

On the day of Diwali, we had breakfast and I surprised Ashby with a birthday cake, since it was after all his birthday.

Happy birthday Ashby!

Ashby also got a marigold garland and a blessing on his for head!

We spent Ashby's birthday exploring a nearby fort and rambling through buildings overgrown by the jungle. We saw monkeys everywhere! Ashby got some great pictures of the monkeys!



An old well at the Taragarh Fort


A shrine up by the fort


Cow-at the Fort

That night we spent Diwali with the Singh family.
The best part of the evening, in my opinion was seeing the rooftops of blue Bundi aglow with the dias and firecrackers. In India, the rooftops are like a family's yard and everybody was enjoying this holiday on their rooftop yards, celebrating the beauty of light!. As far as the eye could see, the horizon was lit-up and every now and than you'd get a few bigger ones in the sky!


Dr. Singh and his son

Children lighting firecrackers on the roofs

Bundi lit up for Diwali (Ashby is there lighting a "Dia" - earthen lamp)


Firecrackers

Grandmother Singh putting out the "Dias"

Lastly...yesterday we rented a scooter and drove out to Bimlat waterfall. We swam around a little and lay on the rocks enjoying the solitude...we were virtually alone. When we were on our way out a family invited us to dinner. "Only in India", we thought as we enjoyed yet another delicious meal amongst some delightful people!

Bimlat waterfalls

Thank you Bundi!
-Cara