the ‘full on’ end of the tour…alone again

ok everyone, chill your beans, i have been waiting till i have ages on the net and for a good connection before i wrote my next blog because i know its gonna be so long. even in my diary im only up to about day 4 of the tour. error. im trying to catch up but tis hard.

so i think the next bit im up to is the overnight train. well that was so long ago… it was alright actually but the bunks were 3 tiers. not all th beds were together either so me and my friend anna tried very hard to get beds in with the 6 together and succeeded. the 2 aussie ladies had to go into another carriage (not that they really were carriages coz there were no doors..they just kinda came off from the main corridor.\ so it was quite noisy) and they said that all the other men in the carriage just stared at them all night. so glad i didnt get those ones. the next morning we got to allahabad and after breckie, g (the tour guide) dragged us off to see where gandi stayed a few times. it was so boring. me and the 2 uk guys were just looking at one of the rooms and then this indian guiy came in kinda pushed us out of the way and walked straight into the glass in front of us. it was so funny. but i burst out laughing so had to run off. was well bad.

then we had the approx 4 hour drive to where we were gonna catch the boat. it was in a bus that was quite comfy…if you were on a normal road. my bum by the end was in pain…it think i still have a bruised tail bone now.

we reached the boats all needing to pee and as there were no toilets it was take it in turns and go behing the wall in the field. lovely.didnt know what we would do on the boat but was soon to find out.

we boarded the boats in groups of 4…guess who i was with the 3 aussies of course. me, anna, sharon and julie. oh yer it was funny as well; the previous night i realised had been calling sharon sheila coz its such an aussie name – epic fail. but i appologised and she said she hadnt even noticed. it was nice to be sitting on the boat now while pur 2 sailers did all the work. it wasnt very widny so they were having to row – felt kinda bad. not long after we had left the other 2 boats and the kitchen boat jon\ined us and we had lunch. it was amazing to think that a few guys could make such a nice lunch on a small boat.

after a while i needed to pee but luckily a stop was sheduled. ‘pee pee stop’ one of the sailers asked and we agreed. but we could not see where he was gonna stop. on one side was just a beach island in the middle of the river and on the other a tall, steep embankment leading up to fields! he pulled over on the embankment side and let us get off. i was the only one that needed to pee but didnt want to go alone so the others follwed me. people were working in the field and there was no privacy, everyone could see. but there was no other choice. we all just peed where we stood never mind who was looking. it was so funny!

we got back on the boat and continued on our way.  the sailer told us that in approx 10 mins we would see dolphins. g had kept this quiet and we were all really excited, ready with our cameras. we couldnt believe than dolphins would be living in the ganges, how random. and we all figured that you guys back home would never believe us either so we had to get a pic. when they finally emerged many shots were taken and many missed. luckily, i was able to get a shot so you will all believe me when i add it when i get home.

but i did not only see dolphins – i saw my first dead body. not very nice. abit shocking. very smelly. we knew that we might see some (cant remember if i mentioned in ealier bog) as i was told that it had happened to someone else. we coudl see something quite large flaoting in the water and could not tell what it was and as we got closer i thought it was a vegetable. then i saw the legs and realised. it must have been a toddler or small child. in india, they cremate most of the people who die except for babies, holy men, pregnant women and leppars. this stunted convo for a while as we were all very shocked.

after about 6 hours of sailing we reached the place where we were gonna camp – it was another beach island in the middle of the river. we all decamped and by now it was cold and beginning to get dark. the sailers got the tents from the boats and errected them for us. of course, they did not shut the door things and so by the time we got into them they were FULL of bugs. lovely. malaria. as at this point i was not taking tablets. but it was fine. some of the guys decided they would rather sleep out in the open than in the tents with so many bigs but they had sleeping bags – i did not. tea was served and it was even more amazing than lunch. we had masala chai which i am now in love with, pasta and chips. and the chips were amazing too. we couldnt get enough. we all sat out for abit before bed, but we all went to bed so early as there was nothing to do and it was dark. we stargazed for abit and i saw a shooting star which i was chuffed about. then bed. i wrapped my head up in a scalf, wore my thermals and pulled my silk liner over my head. i had blankets too of course. oh and the toilet for this stop was another taller tent with a predug hole – luxury.

morning came and we were served yet more chai yay and breakfast. we all jumped back into our boats and off we went. again, the guys were rowing as there was little wind. we all had a go at rowing and got some funny pics.

after 6 hours and yet more dolphins and pee pee stops we came to the end. nobody wanted to leave the voats as they were so comfy and cool. but off we got and climbed a steep hill with our packs to the connection transport to varanassi. this was ‘jeeps’ but they were pretty much just massive cars. our packs were crammed in the back and on the roof. we were all so hot and looking forward to the air con we saw in the roof of the car. the driver got in – and immediately turned the air con off. what the hell. it was midday and 7 of us were crammed into this car. it was not gonna be a nice ride. it took about an hour to reach our hotel but when we did we were all glad of a shower.

that evening, we were taken on a tour of the city so we could know what therw was to do. we walked all along the ghats were cremations take place and saw a few. then g took us to a cotton place. the man explained to us about how it was all made, the processes etc. it was pretty boring but we were all being polite. it was so funny though coz then he asked if he could show us more and then directed the question at burta (the german lady) and she said really bluntly ‘no’. how rude but it was so funny. we would have to get used to this german abruptness.

we wnt for tea – the 2 boys, the aussies and me decided on a place that g suggested, the others came along but then decided against it because they had seen the loo in the place. so they went elsewhere. i had some indian dish as did julie but she sed that her rice was cold and that it meant it had not been reheated properly and i realised mine was cold in some places too so to be on the safe side i ate the dish and the nan, leaving the rice. does anyone know if this is true though?

we sat on the rooftop that night, the aussies having some rum. and soon after we all went to bed.

the next day was free time and as julie is a buddhist we decided we would go the saranarth where the buddha gve his first serman. so we got 2 tuk tuks – 3 in each – again it was the 2 boys and the aussies and me. the tuk tuk ride was about 30mins and hurt my tail even more. they need to sort their roads out.

sarnarth isnt that interesting and the most interesting thing that me andthe guys saw there was an ice cream called ‘gaylord’ icecream. so immature i know but it was funny. julie and sharon also went to the museum but the rest of us couldnt be bothered and it was quite expensive so we waited for them. on return we got our  tuk tuks and went back to varanassi in search of lunch.  we explained to the drivers where we wanted to go and they said they could not get there driving but would drop us the closest they can. so we ended up being being dropped somewhere and being told the way to go but having no idea where we were or any idea which way the river was (the restaurant was by the river). we wondered the streets going by the way we thought not the way we were told which turned out to be completely the wrong way anways. eventually we got there and the others were already there. the food was ok, but i got so excited when i saw they had choco cake so we all ordered one. it was THE most disguisting choco cake i have ever tasted in ym liiiife. it tasted of vinegar eiw eiw eiw. so most of us left it. eiw.

that night we all went to bed pretty early as we were to get up really early for the drive to lumbini on the boarder with nepal. this would be a 6 hour drive apparently. so at 5 the next morning we all piled into the jeeps again. i was with the usual group and at first, felix, the tallest guy was shoved in the very back with me and sharon. he had no leg room and kept hitting his head so while on the move i climbed through to the seats in front. almost falling in the process. i was happy as i was comfier too and tried to nap. the roads werent the greatest as expected and there was still a fair bit on bumping. the tail bone was not enjoying it. after 2 hours we stopped for breckie. some random village place with a bar/restaurant whcih didnt look the cleanest of places. i had toast and chai but most of us cancelled the chai after we saw the milk. lol. i had to go to the toilet at this place as well. probably the worst i had been to. there were flies everywhere and it stank of pee but i was getting used to this.

 (will write more later – will try to keep updating to reach where i am at now)

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