India Travel Journal, Part VII
Saturday, January 27- Sunday, February 3, 2018
Saturday, January 27- Sunday, February 3, 2018
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| A holy man on the banks of the Ganges |
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Varanasi:
on the River Ganges- I got up the next morning around 8am and was relieved to
feel better- almost fully back to normal.
I guess 17 hours of sleep can really make a difference. Irina also felt better, but was still
weak. We had a light breakfast
overlooking the Ganges. There were
monkeys jumping around on our balcony and the scene below was captivating as
the
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| Morning on the Ganges |
We
started with a tour of the riverfront and the Ghats. We walked through the city’s winding, narrow
streets and then down to the first ghat, which is called “Manikarnik
Ghat.” This is the one were the
cremations take place. Every day, at
least 200-300 bodies are dipped into the sacred Ganges to absolve them of their
mortal sins and then they are burned here.
It is intense with a heavy, serious air.
As we approached, we heard a clinking sound every 5-10 seconds. When we got to the stairs leading down to the
river where the fire pits are, I looked over and saw a guy, probably in his
mid-
40s using a huge sledge hammer to nail large metal spikes into huge pieces
of wood to break them up for the fires.
What a job. He does this all day,
every day from dawn to dusk as bodies burn all around him. I was fascinated by the scene and this man’s
life and remained in a daze looking at him and taking it all in. Minutes passed.
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| Manikarnik Ghat, where 200-300 people are cremated daily |
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| A man breaking up the wood for the fires with a sledgehammer |
There
are many pits for the cremations, probably around 15 or so, maybe more, and
there was a lot of activity all about.
All the while, the constant pinging of the hammer on the spikes rang throughout. It felt surreal and out of this world. After seeing a dead woman secured to a
stretcher, dipped into the river and then placed on a stack of wood, Irina felt
lightheaded and had to sit down. After a few more minutes, she felt
like she might faint, so we went back to the hotel
so she could lie down. She wanted a few
more hours of rest to recover from the food poisoning, so we decided that I
would go with Govind out to Sarnath, the Buddhist temple ruins and then we
would return and finish the tour of the inner city and Ghats with her in the
afternoon. This was the idea I had
yesterday for her to do, but now our roles were reversed. Irony.
We were stupid to let down our guard and eat at the airport, but at
least it wasn’t Malaria or something that really knocked us out; this gave me
some comfort.
Once
Ira was comfortably back in bed, we hopped on Govind’s motorcycle and headed
out. The drive was thrilling and it
seemed to me that we almost got into an accident at least five times, but that
is just the way the driving is here. At
one stage, after our handlebars missed a rickshaw by literally only a couple
inches, he turned to me and said, “it is like war.” I yelled back, “it’s all organized chaos my
friend, that’s all it is!” If we were to
take a rickshaw or car to this Buddhist temple, it would take well over an
hour, we made it in around forty minutes on the motorbike.
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| Sarnath- the ruins with the Stupa in the background |
Sarnath
was interesting. The Buddha (Siddhartha Gautama)
made his first sermon after finding enlightenment here, which set in motion the
“Wheel of Dharma” sometime between the 6th and 4th
century BC. Sarnath is considered one of
the most holy sites for Buddhism.
However, after many centuries of being a center for Buddhist thought and
culture, the Muslims invaded and destroyed the entire area in the 12th
century, leaving only the Stupa standing.
The Stupa is a big, round monument made of stone that provided a place
for meditation. (The story goes that since
the Stupa is made of stone, the Muslims didn’t waste time trying to destroy it
and that is the reason it survived.) The
ruins and entire importance of the area were lost for 100s of years before the
British came and stumbled upon them and then excavated and protected them.
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| Buddhist Temple at Sarnath |
Speaking
with Govind, we went over the history. I
asked if many Indians resent the British for their rule and he said, “some do, but anyone who knows and respects
our history does not.” He added, “the
British saved our history in many ways, while the Muslims destroyed it.” He was a very good guide, our best yet. He studied history at university and was
knowledgeable and fun to talk to. I
would recommend him to anyone going to Varanasi.
After
Sarnath, we went back to the hotel, picked up Irina (who was feeling better) and
did a tour of the inner city. We sat in
on a Brahmin school where the students were chanting some Hindu mantras, went
to the ghats again, then rented a boat and did a tour up and down the
Ganges. Then, as the sun set, we went to
the riverside and watched a Hindu festival run by some Brahmin.
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| Taking a boat up and down the river to see the sites |
Varanasi
was my favorite stop along this northern journey. I would like to come back and spend some
extended time here to get a more thorough feel for the place while absorbing
its calming energy. The city has a
unique spirit and I strongly recommend anyone who visits India to make a stop
here. The lack of pollution was also a
nice break from the other cities we visited.
Irina
and I went back to the hotel after the festival at around 8pm, had dinner on
its rooftop restaurant and called it a night.
We both wished we had another day or two to explore the city, but such
is life.
Sunday,
January 28, 2018
We
woke up around 8am and grabbed breakfast on the hotel’s rooftop. Then we went for a walk along the ghats
again. In front of one of the main ghats,
we were solicited by an astrologer who offered to read our palms for $6
each. We had nothing really to do before
heading to the airport, so we took him up on his offer.
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| Ira getting her palm read on the Ganges |
Irina
went first and then it was my turn. When
he started on mine, he stared into my eyes in an effort to read me. I stared back. He didn’t say anything and just stared at
me. I just stared back at him. I focused on his left pupil and didn’t
blink. It was like we were in a staring
contest. After about 30-40 seconds, he
finally turned away and I laughed. He
then went on to give me a very positive palm reading.
He
said I was an old soul and that I would likely find Nirvana after this
life. He said, to Irina’s displeasure,
that I had had a lot of women and a lot more women would come to me, but that up
until now they all only want superficial things that I can offer and that I
still have not found the one that will fulfill me and love my energy and soul
completely. He said that starting
January 14, 2019 would be my “Golden Period” of life and it would run until
January 2023 and at that time all things would come together for me. He said I am strong with the moon and that I
should make a rice pudding every full moon and sit under it with the pudding as
an offering and then wake up at dawn and eat the pudding amidst the
sunrise. While I liked the novelty of it
all, I’m not so sure of the accuracy of this man’s wisdom and vision. But then again, I do like a good rice
pudding, so maybe I will try it!
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| The Palm Reader was saying a prayer for me |
When
we finished with him, we went back to the cremation ghat. Irina wanted to get a more proper sighting of
it. We watched the scene again. They were already busy dipping bodies into the
Ganges, breaking up the wood and preparing the fire pits. It was a different man working the
sledgehammer today. The air again felt
heavy in this place. After a little
while, we walked through the city back to our hotel and then grabbed a taxi to
the airport.
We
flew through Mumbai to Trivandrum and then came back home to Kerala. While we both loved the northern excursion,
we were happy to be back at Kovalam and looked forward to relaxing a bit.
Monday,
January 29, 2018
We
awoke, ate some breakfast and spent the day at the beach. It was really nice to hang with our little
boy again and relax after such a week of travel filled with running around
every day seeing the sights and experiencing so much for the first time. I swam, read Fire and Fury on the beach, ate
lunch at the Crab Club, took a nap, and just enjoyed settling back into our
home base here. I’ll do my detox
tomorrow and that will be the last of the things on my itinerary before flying
back to the states in a week.
We
may still jump over to Kochin for a night or two, but we haven’t decided
yet. Frankly, I don’t think I need to
cram anymore into this trip; it’s been a fantastic time and eye opening
experience and I really don’t think I need to push it any further. I wouldn’t mind just kicking back for the
last week and digesting it all and enjoying the remaining days with my boy on
the beach.
Tuesday,
January 30 –Sunday, February 3, 2018
As
much as I loved the tour we just finished, we decided to scrap the trip to
Kochin and just relax and enjoy our time together over my last week here. I spent my last week just hanging at the
beach, playing with my boy, reading my books and thinking over India and life
in general. The detox went well and I
feel really good as I am about to head back to the states tomorrow.
We went to the zoo in Trivandrum yesterday. It was much nicer than I expected with lots
of hippos, a rhino and some other exotic animals that we all enjoyed,
especially my son. I finished Fire and
Fury and am now about halfway through The Beautiful and the Damned by
Fitzgerald. I also read some of the
Fante short story collection, so I managed to get through a good chunk of my
reading list for the trip and my mind is alert and clear. The Beautiful and the Damned is a fantastic
novel. Fitzgerald really is head and
shoulders above so many authors; it’s a shame so few people still read him
today.
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| Hippo at the zoo |
Overall,
it was a fascinating trip and a real eye opener. I loved it and I already plan on coming back again
next year. There is something so
positive about journeying to new lands, learning new cultures and experiencing
unknown and diverse things. For a person
like me, it gives my life meaning and focus and I am energized to come back to
Chicago and push forward with the last lap of my novel. I hope to finish it in the coming months and
then, if all goes well, find an agent to help me get it published. Along my journey here in India, I came up
with solutions to some plot issues I’ve been thinking about, so I’m looking
forward to getting back to work on it now.
A
big thanks to all of you who have read and enjoyed this extended travel
journal, I hope you found it inspiring and relevant to your own lives and
dreams-
Onward
and Upward- Namaste!
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| Sunset at Kovalam Beach |
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