I got up at 4:30 thanks in part to the wakeup call from the non-English speaking front desk.

Sunrise of the Sacred River Ganges.

After a quick cup of tea I was on the bus, wide awake, and ready to go.

By 5:30 we reached the banks of the sacred River Ganges. We boarded little boats that they had provided for us and began our voyage down the river. It was an extremely interesting spectacle. We saw all sorts of Hindus doing their morning prayers and washing themselves in general. Many of the people who do this are locals, but the vast majority are pilgrims from all over India who come to perform the ritual immersion that they believe will cleanse them and eventually help to release them from the cycle of rebirth. Some Hindus actually believe that if you die within the city of Varanasi that you automatically are released from the cycle, but most people don’t think that’s true because it would be far too easy.

Colorful morning worshippers.

As we progressed down the river I took a role or 2 of pictures and just enjoyed the sunrise and people. I was looking in the river watching the people swim and bathe when all of a sudden a dead cow floated by. I asked our guide and he said that everything that dies goes into the river, including the cows. Soon after he said that I saw a a human body being burned in a funeral pyre and then dumped into the river.

Old Hindu on the river...

Further up the river there were men washing clothes and filling the river with detergents. My guide told me that these people believed that the river is so holy that no amount of pollution could possibly hurt it. Scientists say that the river is one of the most polluted on earth.

Hindu doing his morning prayers.

Even after all the stuff we had seen two of the guys in my boat decided to jump in and go for a swim. Not the greatest idea I think but it didn’t seem to ever give them any problems.

After our boat ride was over we had a chance to walk through the old city and see a Mosque and some temples.

Another Hindu in worship.

I picked up some prayer beads and bought some really cheap film too. There’s a bunch of street sellers there who mob you if you so much as make eye contact with them. They are the most persistent salesmen I’ve ever come across.

After I was done touring the city I returned to the hotel to grab some breakfast. The breakfast there was similar to American breakfasts, but with some notable differences. For example: the milk for the cereal is steaming hot, and that makes the cereal really soggy really fast. But it still tasted good.

By 12:30 we got to the airport and had some lunch and a few beers. I wrote a letter and a few postcards since I had some time to kill. The beers got me a little tipsy and I noticed that they had an alc. content of 9%.

Anther Hindu deep in meditation.

But that was ok since all was doing was sitting in an airplane.

Soon after we arrived in Delhi I went to visit a Sikh temple, which turned out to be a very interesting experience. After I entered the temple I just sat down and listened quietly to the guru sing and talk. After a while worshippers who were doing meditations and such surrounded me. Then one of the old Sikh men holding a golden spear came up to me and offered me some sort of weird food wrapped up in a leaf. I think it was some sort of communion type thing, but I’m not sure. He had handed it each person around me and so I took some too. The men around me all gave me a nod and I ate it.

Lawnmower at the Taj Mahal.

It was warm and gooey and I still have no idea what it was, but it didn’t taste half bad. After I time I had to leave and all the old men gave me a slight nod.

I bought a book about the Sikh religion after I left the temple and have since become very impressed with the religion. It’s a religion based on hard work, helping others, and giving praise and love to god. There is almost no person in the religion who is in poverty and no Sikh ever goes hungry (that’s pretty amazing in India.). In India it is said that if you ever run into trouble look for a Sikh and you will find help.

After our visit to the temple we took a quick tour of the city and then went back to the Ashut Hotel. The Hotel was maybe one of the biggest hotels I’ve ever stayed in.

Buddha Statue at Saranath. Place of Lord Buddha's 1st sermon.

I’m not even sure how big it really was, but it would have taken a long time to walk around the thing.

After dinner 4 or 5 of us decided to go out to this club in some other hotel for a bit. The club didn’t open until 11:30 so we had a few drinks at the bar and played some pool. Once the club opened we found a not-so-happening scene. We stayed until 1:30, did some dancing, and didn’t really talk to anybody except the secret service guys who were there. They’d been there for about a week getting ready for President Clinton’s visit. In preparation for his visit all the places he was going to visit were being cleaned up, so I’m not even sure we got to see that real Delhi.