Varanasi - Day 2

First of all - I was wrong. There is a TV and that is a good thing because none of us felt comfortable venturing too far outdoors once it was dark. D&N watched the Halloween Simpsons last night. By the way, Happy Halloween to all. We all went to bed early last night as we needed to meet our guide in the lobby at 5:30am for our sunrise cruise on the Ganges. This morning I said, "Well, it is one step up from camping." and Damon wasn't sure he agreed. As we walked through the lanes and alleys it was bustling even at that time of the morning. The sights are beyond anything one could imagine. Our guide, Chancha, was well informed and quite funny. There are 7km of ghat [steps] along the river. Our hotel overlooks the main ghat where most of the ritual bathing occurs. All the ghats are submerged during the monsoon. As the monsoon season just ended there is thick, gooey mud in many places. Our rower took us first to the cremation ghat where cremations occur 24/7. It is an interesting process. All along the river people were bathing, swimming or taking a sacred plunge into the holy waters. No one is concerned about the pollution and believe me it is POLLUTED! The dobhi wallahs [washermen] were hard at work doing the daily laundry in the river [look for a picture]. After the cruise our guide took us to Lord Krishan's temple - security everywhere because not only is it a Hindu temple but it is also a Muslim mosque. There is a definite awareness about terrorism in this country. Armed guards all along the narrow lanes watching everyone with ghigh level scrutiny. We had to deposit cameras, bags, cellphones etc. at a shop for safe keeping and then go through security gates, as tight as airports, complete with male and female pat downs. After all that, the viewing balcony was closedand we were turned away - India it is. The shopkeeper didn't charge for guarding our bags but we had to pay the courtesy of looking at his wares. I bought a couple of silk scarves. So we've done all that and it is only 7:30. Back to our rooms to shower. Jalem is going to love to hear our stories about the plumbing. We had breakfast on our hotel's rooftop restaurant. By the way, our guide told us we have the best hotel on the river - hmmmm! Glad we aren't staying in a different one. After breakfast we wandered down to the cremation ghat for a closer look and actually found our way back through the maze of alleys to the main street. I found a fabulous bead shop with an owner who did not pressure me to buy anything. Of course, I bought lots. She was delightful and I'm going back laterto buy more. We're not quite sure what to do with ourselves until 2:00 when our guide returns for a tour of the city. This place is definitely an attraction that one should see in India but certainly not a place where there is a lot to do. Hopefully, we'll get a better sense of the city during our tour. There is a photo of our hotel from the riverside so you get a sense of how high up from the river we are [look for the red flags]. Steps are the only access and every step has a depth at least 1/2 as much again as our steps. We're all going to have tight butts and strong quads by the time we leave. I would love to take lots of pictures here but am very careful doing so for several reasons: it could be disrespectful in some instances, dangerous in others and costly in others. There are many fake sadhus who demand payment. Our guide said a true sadhu would never ask for money. Trouble is you can't tell the real from the fake. It really is a photographer's dream wandering through this city; unfortunately a dream it will remain. The people here have a very difficult life but seem very happy. We're off to have lunch on the rooftop. It is a beautiful, hot day and the sights will keep us entertained until we meet our guide. I've had trouble posting photos as blogger takes forever and then the power goes out. A generator does kick in but internet access is blocked until the real power is back up and running.