the lassi in varanasi, city of shit and other adventures
i fled jaipur after a semi-paranoid/semi-serious big-brother-is-watching-you situation involving cleverly disguised, attractive gem smugglers... i skipped bodhgaya and headed straight to varanasi in general class, because sleeper was sold out. general class is a special experience... it's normally where you travel if your trip isn't over night... foreigners generally don't use it... i had no choice... for a while i had no seat, and at night, i managed to crawl under the seats for a nap on the filthy floor, occasionally being stood on. i figured it wouldn't be that bad, seeing as it was only a twelve hour trip. twenty-two hours later, we arrived in varanasi.
i met some french girls from my dorm in jaipur at the train station and we all headed to another dorm and spent the week hanging out along the ghats, in cafes, shops, drinking shitloads of chai and seeing a bollywood movie after drinking a bhang lassi... bad move. i got anxious and paranoid, just like i used to before i stopped smoking. i don't remember the movie, but it was quite stressful trying to figure out if things were supposed to be hilarious or horrific... i didn't want to offend anybody by laughing in the terrible bits. i relaxed a little when we got back to the dorms and the effects were less intense, but i'm thinking it's something i should continue to stay away from.
we saw a little bit of rain and the tiny labyrinth of a city was covered in a thick sludge of cow shit, and hid in cafes for the day, listening to a man from chile tell tall tales and laugh his infectuous laugh. we were joined by a german photographer who doesn't like shopping and i managed to stand in human shit by the ganges, forcing myself to bathe my foot in the polluted holy river. a chai man watched and laughed while trying to sell me chai at the same time... we called across the ghats to each other, discussing chai and SHIT, which is always pronounced much louder than any other word. i walked home in my sandals through the sludgy cow shit and learned to say cow shit in french in two different ways. i also learned to say "there's monkey shit on my head" when a monkey decided that it would be fun to fling his shit at my head in front of a lot of people the next day. i have become a shit magnet.
i managed to do reiki level two with a reiki teacher that i didn't get along with so well. i healed one of the french girls for my practical session and it was great to have feedback from her, because her mother, father and brother all practice reiki. we figured that the purpose for having a reiki teacher i didn't click with was to encourage me to find my own way, rather than using somebody else's methods.
this will be my last india blog until next time i feel the need to get lost in the subcontinent, but it's been an amazing ride, even if i didn't plan it so well and other travelers look at me in amused disbelief at my ridiculous itinerary that defies logic. doing things in order has never been a strong point of mine.
i've read some great books here... and hopefully i'll finish 'shantaram' before i get home. it's just hard to get into after reading a book as amazing as 'the god of small things', which no europeans can get into... but i don't think the translated versions would be the same. i think the book needs to be in english to be fully appreciated. of all the books set in india that i've read, it's my favourite.
it's been hard living without a great selection of music... cibo matto, massive attack, the smashing pumpkins and a mix tape from when i was sixteen, but i've picked up a morcheeba album and the best of mtv unplugged vol.2 for rem and bjork... looking forward to a reunion with my cds very much. and good tomato salsa.
i met some french girls from my dorm in jaipur at the train station and we all headed to another dorm and spent the week hanging out along the ghats, in cafes, shops, drinking shitloads of chai and seeing a bollywood movie after drinking a bhang lassi... bad move. i got anxious and paranoid, just like i used to before i stopped smoking. i don't remember the movie, but it was quite stressful trying to figure out if things were supposed to be hilarious or horrific... i didn't want to offend anybody by laughing in the terrible bits. i relaxed a little when we got back to the dorms and the effects were less intense, but i'm thinking it's something i should continue to stay away from.
we saw a little bit of rain and the tiny labyrinth of a city was covered in a thick sludge of cow shit, and hid in cafes for the day, listening to a man from chile tell tall tales and laugh his infectuous laugh. we were joined by a german photographer who doesn't like shopping and i managed to stand in human shit by the ganges, forcing myself to bathe my foot in the polluted holy river. a chai man watched and laughed while trying to sell me chai at the same time... we called across the ghats to each other, discussing chai and SHIT, which is always pronounced much louder than any other word. i walked home in my sandals through the sludgy cow shit and learned to say cow shit in french in two different ways. i also learned to say "there's monkey shit on my head" when a monkey decided that it would be fun to fling his shit at my head in front of a lot of people the next day. i have become a shit magnet.
i managed to do reiki level two with a reiki teacher that i didn't get along with so well. i healed one of the french girls for my practical session and it was great to have feedback from her, because her mother, father and brother all practice reiki. we figured that the purpose for having a reiki teacher i didn't click with was to encourage me to find my own way, rather than using somebody else's methods.
this will be my last india blog until next time i feel the need to get lost in the subcontinent, but it's been an amazing ride, even if i didn't plan it so well and other travelers look at me in amused disbelief at my ridiculous itinerary that defies logic. doing things in order has never been a strong point of mine.
i've read some great books here... and hopefully i'll finish 'shantaram' before i get home. it's just hard to get into after reading a book as amazing as 'the god of small things', which no europeans can get into... but i don't think the translated versions would be the same. i think the book needs to be in english to be fully appreciated. of all the books set in india that i've read, it's my favourite.
it's been hard living without a great selection of music... cibo matto, massive attack, the smashing pumpkins and a mix tape from when i was sixteen, but i've picked up a morcheeba album and the best of mtv unplugged vol.2 for rem and bjork... looking forward to a reunion with my cds very much. and good tomato salsa.