On Thursday, most of the kiddies decided that they didn't need to come into school as they had finished their exams so it wasn't worth it. As a result there were only 70 children in school so the innocent and willing volunteers were given all the children to look after for the day whilst the employed teachers sat chatting and writing reports (in case you hadn't guessed from my tone, we were not best pleased). However, it was actually a pretty easy day. My first class of grade 3 + 4 combined were doing drawing and colouring and worksheets and when they finished them they taught me how to count to 10 in Hindi which phonetically is: aiche, do, teen, char, partch, che, sart, arth, no, das! They also taught me how to right my name in Hindi - it was nice to be taught rather than teach and they seemed to enjoy it too and have been constantly testing me since! We spent the rest of the day playing outside in the sunshine, most of the boys played football and I sat with the girls whilst they made the longest possible sentence out of little magnetic word tiles that I brought with me.
The same happened on Friday but there were more students and they had been threatened with having 10 marks deducted from their exam results if they didn't attend. Again, we just played outside with them and chatted to the ones who weren't so keen on playing. There was also a school vs village boys cricket match going on and I find it amazing how even really young Indian boys seem to have it in their blood to be able to throw ridiculously far and accurately!
At 2 we were collect by Chouto, our favourite Tuk Tuk man and went into Delhi to catch the train to the holy city of Varanasi. We had been warned by multiple people that the train from delhi to Varanasi is known for its pick pocketing and thieving so we had all taken as minimal things as possible and i had my valuables stashed in my bra because I figured I would notice if someone tried to steal it from there... I'm not that deep of a sleeper!
It was a 13 hour train and then arrived 2 hours late which we didn't actually mind because it meant we arrived at 7am rather than 5am and I had actually slept surprisingly well. We all made it to Varanasi with all our belongings too which was an added bonus.
Even at 7 in the morning it was already very warm so we predicted a sweltering day. We were right. We started by walking along the riverside watching men, women and children washing themselves and their clothes in the River Ganges. The men would strip down to the boxers or just a flimsy cloth to bathe so we saw lots of bare bums. Whereas, the women would go into the water fully dressed in their saree's and then have another saree on the side to change into after.
We found our hotel which, I'm not going to lie, looked pretty dodgy from the outside and was down a very dirty back road and even from the inside didn't look particularly special - fag burns on the sheets and mouldy bathrooms - but it was airconed, had WiFi in the lovely rooftop restaurant over looking the river and only cosy us £1.50 each for a night so it did the job perfectly.
After checking in and unpacking we ventured back out onto the river bank and got persuaded by an elderly man to go up to a house to look out over the burning ghats. It was an incredible view of the 'crematorium' and was supposedly a hospice for elderly people who go to Varanasi to die (lots of people do) as then you get a fast track to the Hindu heaven. The old man explained to us what was going on and the various rituals taking place as we watched some bodies be prepared to be burned. The most closely related male to the deceased has to have all their head hair and facial hair shaved off (so there are a lot of bald men walking around), then washes in the river before being wrapped in white cloths. He is the person who then lights the fire under the body (which has already been dunked in the Ganges whilst covered in red and orange cloths)
and the fire is brought from the nearby temple where a fire has been burning solidly, never going out, for the past 3500 years. Some people at exempt from being burned on the ghats when they die, these are; religious leaders, children under 12 due to their innocence, pregnant women because of the child, lepers, and people killed by a cobra bite. We saw one of said people (I don't know which) be put on a boat, rowed out into the middle of the river and then dropped over the side to sink to the body. I find it pretty gross to think of the number of bodies bobbing about in that water that people wash in and drink from everyday. Apparently in the monsoon and when the river dries up more there a bones and limbs scattered along the beach on the opposite side of the river - ewww!
As we left this 'hospice' the man tried to insist on us giving money as he said it costed 300 rupees for a kilo of wood - we later found out it is 5 rupees per kilo. However, no one really had any small money on them so we only gave 20 and then he followed us down the ricer bank, ranting to us about bad karma and how it would come back on us. We were later asked if someone had done such thing and were told it was all a scam to get money and the old ladies were actresses, so I'm glad we didn't give any more money. WE GOT SCAMMED!
Once we had managed to shake off this man we found our way into shopping streets and visited a tea shop where he taught us how to make my new favourite drink, masala chai.
We then headed back to our hotel to hide from the midday heat and recoup so energy after the train journey. At 4.30 we went on our free sunset boat ride provided by the hotel. It was amazing to see the river side and all its accompanying activities from the river itself, and thankfully we didn't see any dead bodied floating along! The sunset behind the buildings was stunning, particularly with it reflected in the river. After 2 hours on the boat, kat and I walked to the main ghat to watch the nightly Puja (worship) ceremony which involved lots of waving about of flames and incense and chanting which I didn't really understand but it was good fun to see and there were LOADS of people there watching. Our dinner in the rooftop was perfectly accompanied by one of our fellow guests at the hotel strumming his guitar and singing along...it was perfect background music.
We had an early night before getting up at 5.30am the following morning and heading out on another (free) boat trip with the hotel to see sunrise on the river Ganges. I was amazed by how many people were up and about, washing in the river at that time and the sunset over the river was stunning! After an incredible pancake breakfast o headed back down to just sit on the ghats and watch the world go by. I made multiple friends whilst sat there as many men came up to me, completely harmlessly, for a chat. I love that everyones first reaction when I say I am from England is 'aaaahh cricket', even though we've already embarrassingly been knocked out of the World Cup, and they are all of course convinced that India will win. For lunch we found our way to a delicious bakery before wandering through the narrow street bazaars and making some purchases. After a couple of hours shopping we found our way back to the river to sit there for a bit and try and cool ourselves down after a very hot day. We then made the stupid mistake of attempting to walk to the train station. After about half an hour of walking and only 25 mins until our train we gave in and found a Tuk Tuk, it took another 15 mins by motor so we were very glad we gave up when we did.
The return journey was my last psleeper train in India and I have finally mastered sleeping on them, I managed to get at least 8 hours sleep. Even with random people coming and sitting on the end (as I was the bottom bunk) and at one point j woke up to find someone curled up asleep at my feet so I gently, and perfectly innocently wriggled about in my bed making it very clear
that they were not welcome there! The only problem with our journey home was that the train arrived in Delhi 6 hours late so it was 18 hours instead of 12 - not cool. By the end of it we were all very disgruntled, uncomfortable, dirty and starving as I hadn't eaten anything but a packet of crisps in 25 hours! So we treated ourselves to a Starbucks at the metro station to make up for it.
There is no proper school this week, just the kids coming in for their results and parent teacher meetings so we are not really required. Therefore I intend to take full advantage of the sunny weather and the pool at the house.
Only 6 days now until the family arrive, I AM SO EXCITED :D
Love to all xxxxx
The same happened on Friday but there were more students and they had been threatened with having 10 marks deducted from their exam results if they didn't attend. Again, we just played outside with them and chatted to the ones who weren't so keen on playing. There was also a school vs village boys cricket match going on and I find it amazing how even really young Indian boys seem to have it in their blood to be able to throw ridiculously far and accurately!
At 2 we were collect by Chouto, our favourite Tuk Tuk man and went into Delhi to catch the train to the holy city of Varanasi. We had been warned by multiple people that the train from delhi to Varanasi is known for its pick pocketing and thieving so we had all taken as minimal things as possible and i had my valuables stashed in my bra because I figured I would notice if someone tried to steal it from there... I'm not that deep of a sleeper!
It was a 13 hour train and then arrived 2 hours late which we didn't actually mind because it meant we arrived at 7am rather than 5am and I had actually slept surprisingly well. We all made it to Varanasi with all our belongings too which was an added bonus.
Even at 7 in the morning it was already very warm so we predicted a sweltering day. We were right. We started by walking along the riverside watching men, women and children washing themselves and their clothes in the River Ganges. The men would strip down to the boxers or just a flimsy cloth to bathe so we saw lots of bare bums. Whereas, the women would go into the water fully dressed in their saree's and then have another saree on the side to change into after.
We found our hotel which, I'm not going to lie, looked pretty dodgy from the outside and was down a very dirty back road and even from the inside didn't look particularly special - fag burns on the sheets and mouldy bathrooms - but it was airconed, had WiFi in the lovely rooftop restaurant over looking the river and only cosy us £1.50 each for a night so it did the job perfectly.
After checking in and unpacking we ventured back out onto the river bank and got persuaded by an elderly man to go up to a house to look out over the burning ghats. It was an incredible view of the 'crematorium' and was supposedly a hospice for elderly people who go to Varanasi to die (lots of people do) as then you get a fast track to the Hindu heaven. The old man explained to us what was going on and the various rituals taking place as we watched some bodies be prepared to be burned. The most closely related male to the deceased has to have all their head hair and facial hair shaved off (so there are a lot of bald men walking around), then washes in the river before being wrapped in white cloths. He is the person who then lights the fire under the body (which has already been dunked in the Ganges whilst covered in red and orange cloths)
and the fire is brought from the nearby temple where a fire has been burning solidly, never going out, for the past 3500 years. Some people at exempt from being burned on the ghats when they die, these are; religious leaders, children under 12 due to their innocence, pregnant women because of the child, lepers, and people killed by a cobra bite. We saw one of said people (I don't know which) be put on a boat, rowed out into the middle of the river and then dropped over the side to sink to the body. I find it pretty gross to think of the number of bodies bobbing about in that water that people wash in and drink from everyday. Apparently in the monsoon and when the river dries up more there a bones and limbs scattered along the beach on the opposite side of the river - ewww!
As we left this 'hospice' the man tried to insist on us giving money as he said it costed 300 rupees for a kilo of wood - we later found out it is 5 rupees per kilo. However, no one really had any small money on them so we only gave 20 and then he followed us down the ricer bank, ranting to us about bad karma and how it would come back on us. We were later asked if someone had done such thing and were told it was all a scam to get money and the old ladies were actresses, so I'm glad we didn't give any more money. WE GOT SCAMMED!
Once we had managed to shake off this man we found our way into shopping streets and visited a tea shop where he taught us how to make my new favourite drink, masala chai.
We then headed back to our hotel to hide from the midday heat and recoup so energy after the train journey. At 4.30 we went on our free sunset boat ride provided by the hotel. It was amazing to see the river side and all its accompanying activities from the river itself, and thankfully we didn't see any dead bodied floating along! The sunset behind the buildings was stunning, particularly with it reflected in the river. After 2 hours on the boat, kat and I walked to the main ghat to watch the nightly Puja (worship) ceremony which involved lots of waving about of flames and incense and chanting which I didn't really understand but it was good fun to see and there were LOADS of people there watching. Our dinner in the rooftop was perfectly accompanied by one of our fellow guests at the hotel strumming his guitar and singing along...it was perfect background music.
We had an early night before getting up at 5.30am the following morning and heading out on another (free) boat trip with the hotel to see sunrise on the river Ganges. I was amazed by how many people were up and about, washing in the river at that time and the sunset over the river was stunning! After an incredible pancake breakfast o headed back down to just sit on the ghats and watch the world go by. I made multiple friends whilst sat there as many men came up to me, completely harmlessly, for a chat. I love that everyones first reaction when I say I am from England is 'aaaahh cricket', even though we've already embarrassingly been knocked out of the World Cup, and they are all of course convinced that India will win. For lunch we found our way to a delicious bakery before wandering through the narrow street bazaars and making some purchases. After a couple of hours shopping we found our way back to the river to sit there for a bit and try and cool ourselves down after a very hot day. We then made the stupid mistake of attempting to walk to the train station. After about half an hour of walking and only 25 mins until our train we gave in and found a Tuk Tuk, it took another 15 mins by motor so we were very glad we gave up when we did.
The return journey was my last psleeper train in India and I have finally mastered sleeping on them, I managed to get at least 8 hours sleep. Even with random people coming and sitting on the end (as I was the bottom bunk) and at one point j woke up to find someone curled up asleep at my feet so I gently, and perfectly innocently wriggled about in my bed making it very clear
that they were not welcome there! The only problem with our journey home was that the train arrived in Delhi 6 hours late so it was 18 hours instead of 12 - not cool. By the end of it we were all very disgruntled, uncomfortable, dirty and starving as I hadn't eaten anything but a packet of crisps in 25 hours! So we treated ourselves to a Starbucks at the metro station to make up for it.
There is no proper school this week, just the kids coming in for their results and parent teacher meetings so we are not really required. Therefore I intend to take full advantage of the sunny weather and the pool at the house.
Only 6 days now until the family arrive, I AM SO EXCITED :D
Love to all xxxxx
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