Dharamasala, India
Wednesday, November 1, 2006
oops let me backup before I talk about Dharamasala. I arrived about 3 hours late into varanasi. The train ride was pretty quiet til I met a nice Irish girl who was travelling with 2 friends. We were talking to an older Indian men who recommended I reduce my weight as he he was chewing betelnut. Betelnut is a type of nut that gives you a little high and ruins your teeth. I thought coffee was bad but betelnut turns your teeth into red stained little stubs. He told the Irish girl she was fat as well!!! She was so offended but I explained to her that I was used to it. We told him he shouldnt say that to western women and he apologized profusely. So I got ripped off immediately upon arrival into varanasi. My driver never came and I took an overpriced cab by a seemingly nice young man. My friend Madhu(trekking guide) took a 16 hour bus/train journey from Nepal to meet me in Varanasi. We had kept in touch since my trek and he was quite worried. He speaks hindi and has been to India 5 times and was a godsend! We had so much fun. We first went to the ghat(bank of the holy river gange) at night and took a boat ride. People were preparing for a festival to honor the sun god. Little children on other boats would hop onto ours selling candles in a palm leaf bowl with flowers. We made our wishes and put the candles in the water. THe river was filled with wishes and on the different ghats brahmin(highest caste) youth were performing a ritual. Ringing bells, dressed in yellow, swinging incence in front of a huge audience. The next day we wandered through the tiny streets and found some good food to munch on. We loved the boat ride so much we went again for sunrise. There were hundreds of women wrapped in Saris bathing in the holy water. Holy men were about and we did a puja(a kind of wish/prayer ritual). He gave us our tika (red dot on the head made from vermillion powder). We took a cycle rickshaw past the huge vegetable market and dirty streets you find everywhere in India. Madhu decided to come with me to dehli and after a little bribery and sometime in the scary second class sleeper section we were able to share the same berth in AC3. Madhu said that the train people were saying in Hindi we better get her a seat because she is foregner. The second class sleeper was past the kitchen and the windows are just bars. people are sleeping everywhere, on the floor, luggage racks, beds a nice man let us sit on his bed and told madhu not to worry because he was like his son. we encountered a lot of kindness! I just cant stand the people in the tourist industry here but the everyday people are wonderful. Dehli was the same as before but a 3 day strike left us with not a lot to do . Most shops were closed and traffic was bad. Becky missed her flight and I arranged for a driver to Dharamasala. The airplane was too expensive and they often get cancelled. The driver showed up at our hotel and proceeded to get lost for just about the whole trip. 18 hours later(2am) we made it to Mcleod and couldnt find our guesthouse ! The driver said we would have to sleep in the car! I got out my sleeping bag and there was a light on in a hotel near by!!! We got a room there while the driver slept in the car. The bell boy was very strange! Ahh you are from america, nice country, very nice! We like dollars here in india, ahh yes very nice...give me a dollar. I gave him 50 rupees tip and told him it was worth more than a dollar and he seemed satisfied. We quickly locked the door after him and fell asleep to bollywood videos on the telly. Mcleaod is beautiful during the day. It reminds me of Nepal! I ran into the 2 american girls from the camel safari while having breakfast! Becky and I will meet them for dinner tonight. Oops I gotta go but I will write more tomorrow!!
