Major Catch up Blog

I really need to do some catching up with my Blog, and therefore i will probably leave out way too many details and funny little stories but i will do my best.

The sleeper train from Orchha to Allabad was great! We had 3 leveled bunk-beds, i was on the very top, and passed out when we got on around 10:30 pm and than awoke at our next destination at 6:30 am. It was nice to not loose a day of travel, to just get on and sleep and wake up in a new place! We took jeeps to where we would start our sailing journey on the Ganges River! I didn't really know what to expect of the sailing trip but when we pulled up next to the river and saw our sailing boats in the distance i knew it was going to be quite the experience.
There were 4 people to a boat, little foamies and blankets to lay down on that covered the floor and a ripped up and patched up old sail draping overhead. The Ganges river was not nearly as high as it would be in monsoon season so we trekked out with our bags in the sand, dipped our feet in the holy water and nestled into our boat for the next 2 days. It was surreal, floating peacefully down the Holy River Ganges, when it seemed just days ago i was in the hustle and bustle of Delhi, and Agra. It a a whole different world here, the only sound is of the boat being rowed softly and rhythmically. This is truly the life, one i wouldn't mind living for a couple more days. Anand told us old tales of the river as the sun peeked through the holes in the sail, the day spent reading, chitchatting, appreciating the scenery and secretly hoping to see a dead body float pass. I know that's really gross but you guys would be curious too! Apparently the only people who are not cremated but are sent floating down the river are pregnant ladies, people with Leprosy, A baby who is still on milk, a Saint, and someone who has been bitten by a snake, This is because each one of these people are considered to be holy. For one of the holiest and most sacred rivers in the world, you would think people would respect and take care of it more but there was a lot of garbage, some falling down in mass amounts down cliffs into the river. We had our very own personal cooks in their tiny little sailboats, we would all try to catch up to each other and connect the boats for each meal, passing the plates through each boat. The food was fantastic too, its amazing the food they can make with such little equipment! We pulled off to a sandy shore as the sun started to go down and as our boat boys scampered around setting up our tents we sat in the sand and watched the sun go down while drinking chai's! I will say it again, and you will probably hear (or read) me say it many more times but, this is the life! It felt too good to be true and i cant even put into words how much i enjoyed this part of the trip. As it turned completely pitch dark black, our fire not wanting to cooperate, we ate our supper, had some good laughs, and listened to the howling of wild Jackles in the distance. Although we had tents, i really really wanted to just sleep out with my sleeping bag under the stars because they were so bright and clear, it would have just made the whole day complete. However, after hearing that i may become Jackle dinner, i thought i would best to keep it safe and sleep in the tent, too bad...
I awoke before anyone else, and took a stroll along the river watching the sun come up. We ate a quick breakfast and headed back on the boats for another day of Sailing. I am so thankful that i was feeling better at this point of the trip because a girl on my trip got sick really bad and when your stuck on a boat with 4 other people its slightly inconvenient. This whole time not having toilets, but if you gotta go, you gotta go.. its almost better to go in the wilderness or behind a bush than go into one of the Indian toilets, the smell strong enough to make you pass out! Oh and Roger (the guy allergic to air) had the nerve to get angry at the cooks, who are working their ass off to feed us all, and on top of that Take care of his ridiculous food needs. He complained that the potatoes were not cooked properly and he would go the rest of the day starving because of it. He did this all in front of us and we were so mortified that we All just ripped into him putting him in his place, That felt extremely good. After lunch we docked up and watched the boys start their 15 hour walk back to where we started, pulling the boats behind, They work so freaking hard! We hopped on our jeeps and took a detour route through villages to get to our next location, VARANASI! I have heard some crazy stories of the people here, having an abundant supply of Marijuana and other drugs that make people so nuts on the streets. Its also the place of the "burning hearts", or in other words where the dead are cremated. I'm So surrounded by death, on the Ganges and at Varanasi it makes me feel so good to be alive! This is the greatest time of my life and i want to experience all these great foreign cultures.