Short Update from the Road...

The above image is Lord Shiva meditating along the Holy Ganga. At this location I participated in a sunset aarti, or religious ceremony where songs are sung in praise of the deities. Accompanying singing were numerous prayers and there were also sacred fires where people made offerings to the gods under the guidance of some young Brahmins. The music and singing were nice and the location was serene. Blissful was one word that came to mind. But don't worry... I am not turning into a Hare Krishna.

I leave tonight on a 20 hour train ride (ugh!) for Varanasi, Hinduism's holiest city. Thank god I have the upper berth of a 3-tier, 6 bunk cabin because I am traveling 2nd class which by American standards would be cattle car class. The bottom bunk gets loaded up with all kinds of people, so many more than there is room for. And since these people are siting on the bottom bench you can't pull down the middle bunk either. So for 20 hours there will be about 12 or so of us in a cabin made for 6. There will be lots of farting, snoring, coughing, some crying, and weird burping noises all through the night as entire families toss and turn on the steel train floor.

It is times like these when I say, "I miss America." I should be thoroughly worn out by the time I hit Varanasi, but I am only planning on spending a little bit of time there. Within a matter of days I will be traveling south to the city of Bodhgaya where Siddhartha Gautama, aka The Buddha, attained enlightenment under a sacred fig tree now know as the Bodhi tree. The current living tree is a 3rd generation sapling taken from the original centuries ago (like a grandson to the original tree). After this brief stop I plan to keep moving south looking for some nice, shady beaches and fresh, green coconuts.