Week One in India!

The main reason for coming to Varanasi is because my dear cousin Melissa, her husband and 2 kids live here. Melissa and I have always been close, but never lived close (she was raised in Florida, then lived in Albania, and now India). We wanted to visit them to see their life here and experience what it is like to live in India. Ironically, my Uncle Doug (who married us) and Aunt Lisa are here visiting too. So far, it has been awesome.

I must mention our journey to get her from Nepal. We boarded a local bus in Kathmandu that was supposed to be a 7-8hr ride to the border. The only *seats* available were these whicker stools in the aisle. It was going to be a long ride... or so we thought. Because of some vehical breakdowns and a lot of festival traffic, it took us FIVE HOURS to get out of Kathmandu. It then took us FOURTEEN AND A HALF HOURS to get to the border town. On STOOLS. We made friends on the bus who called ahead to book us a hotel in the town, since we were arriving at midnight. Once arrived in the town, our new friends had arranged for 2 guys to take us on motorcycles to the hotel - so we hopped on, full packs hanging off our backs, and were delivered to our hotel. The next day, we took a rickshaw, then sprung for a taxi for the 100km drive to the town where we could get a train. Of course the only seating left was General, and we paid about $2.40 for 2 tickets on a 5.5hr train ride. We were celebrities in general. Any and every Indian in the car who spoke English wanted to come practice their English and find out about these tourists in General. It was an interesting ride - we were glad to arrive in Varanasi! 

Our new "friends" on the train to Varanasi

Our first week here has kind of been a glamorous week compared to most. Our first day here, because of some friends from Delhi visiting, we celebrated by going to one of the five star hotels in town for a kabob meal - all meat! Most people here rarely eat meat, so for these American folks, this was a treat. Most meals out cost less than two dollars. This was about $15! 

The next morning, we had our imfamous boat ride on the Ganges River, the most holy place for Hindus. They do everything from bathing to washing laundry to watering their animals to burying their loved ones in this river. Hindus come from all over the world to the Ganges on pilgrimages - they dream their whole lives about bathing in it. We saw older women there on a pilgrimage, and you could see the years of anticipation in their eyes as they stepped into the river. We saw public cremations - Hindus believe that if they are cremated by the Ganges, then their ashes spread in the river, they will be released from the cycle of reincarnation. 

Andrew and I on the Ganges

One of the many Ghats along the shore

Melissa and I!

The next day was the final and most significant day of a 10 day Hindu festival. This festival is notoriously evil and brings out pretty terrible things in the city. So we left the city and spent the day at a beautiful waterfall! It was relaxing and fun, and the first time in a long time that the people we went with had been out of the city to spend time in nature. Of course we had to explore the waterfalls and hike back about 45mins to the BIG waterfall. We climbed in behind it - this was also the day I wiped out on some slippery rocks and got some dandy bruises on my behind. Typical...

Andrew always LOVES waterfalls. 

Worth the hike to the big one!

Andrew behind the big waterfall

Uncle Doug, me, Andrew & Jake

We get around mostly by scooter and rickshaw, which is a man on a 3 wheeled bike, with a little carriage seat for his passengers to sit on. It costs about 50 cents for a 10-20 minute ride. Transportation is always a fun experience - you are always dodging potholes, cows, pigs and burning garbage... while driving on the left side of the road, passing walkers, bikes, rickshaws, and being passed by cars and motorcyles, weaving and constantly honking your horn. Semi-organized chaos! We have been rear ended and have rear ended a car, and of course no one wears helmets. It is awesome. Have you seen our rickshaw photo? Click here!

Twice a week, we have been going with Melissa to the Rail Center - an organization run by an Indian-South African couple that works with the dozens of slum kids who live at the rail station. They do school 3 days a week, and the other 2 days (the ones we have been going on) are play days for the kids, basically to communicate to them that they are loved and worthwhile of safe fun and adults time of day. It is really cool. Andrew tries his hand at cricket with the older guys (they were pretty surprised at his natural athleticism) and I play with the younger ones - Lego, colouring, etc. 

Andrew learning cricket with the boys

What kid doesn't love Lego!

Story time :)

Since we are living with local people, we only have been eating local food! Most households have a house helper that manages the kitchen, so we are legit eating food prepared by Indian women who are pro! Rice, vegetables, lentils and roti (similar to tortilla bread) - yum yum yum. Although, we hit up our first Indian McDonalds this weekend, and it sure was tasty to sink our teeth into some classic McChicken sandwiches loaded with mayo, followed by delicious soft serve! Of course there was no beef on the menu!

Every Saturday a bunch of Jake and Mel's foreigner friends go to the pool to relax with each other for a day. We also got McFlurries - Andrew had been dying for ice-cream, lol! 

Thanks for reading! More adventures to come! :)