Back to India.

Well now I'm actually in Pushkar India... a long way from where I last wrote about in Nepal... I guess I better update you all about what's happened since then.

So we went back to Kathmandu and saw the last of the sites...all very cool. Nepal is truly a lovely country, the people are much gentler than the Indians. And we decided to fly to Varanasi since Kerryn was running out of time and three days to transit through just wasn't possible.

But as normal Varanasi was wonderful! We stayed in a room that resembled a brightly painted prison cell but I got two beds to myself so I put the mattresses one on top of the other and had the first great night's sleep I've had here :)

It was also right behind the Burning Ghats (where the bodies are cremated) so first thing we headed down and watched dozens of bodies get carried down and burned. Last time I was here there was only five or so bodies getting cremated but this time there were so many that they had a line of them on the river front, at least a dozen waiting.

It's such a crazy city with streets so narrow sometimes two people can't pass shoulder to shoulder. Cows wander peacefully, monkey's jump over head, dogs sleep in door steps and I even spotted a mongoose run under a table and along the street.

The noises never stop and people call out to each other across rooftops. Those flat roofs so close to each other I could imagine running across them like the monkey's do and avoiding the streets entirely.

We met a boy who was home from school because of a festival that was running for three days while we were there. He showed us around the city's cramped streets and into the many temples. And at the end of the day we bought him a kite with $1 and watched him join the hoards of other children and other young people flying them from the rooftops.

And we wondered the Indian markets buying bangles and other trinkets and the prices were real...not what I expected from this crazy city but welcome none the less.

Then on to Agra... the train ride from hell. We arrived at the station at 9pm for a train that was meant to leave at 10:50pm and arrive at 7am...it actually arrived at the station at 6am...it didn't arrive in Agra till 1am the next day. 27hours in transit isn't exactly a fun experience. Damn this fog!!!

But anyway, saw the Taj and Agra Fort and then found out that all the trains to delhi were either full or cancelled. And Kerryn needed to fly out of Delhi the next day! We looked up busses but they were all full from the cancelled trains...we ended up taking a taxi...not a cheap option but he only one we had.

But we found the most wonderful hotel in Dehli... Cottage Good Day on the Main Bazaar. New and clean, what a relief...