Did I tell you that before I got to India, I had a dream that I ran over a cow?!!! As I am sure you know, cows are sacred here and are free to roam where ever they please and it is common for them to clog up traffic. Well we are headed back to the same boat tonight and as I am walking down the street, I eyeball some cows approaching, I think I will give them a wide berth, they are in the middle of the street so I will hug the left side. As the head cow passes, I guess I was not over enough in her royal opinion, she turns her head as I pass and hooks her horn into the buttons running along the side of my dress. I freak a little because I have no where to go and she can either rip my buttons leaving me exposed or gore me. Not that people were staring, now they are staring AND laughing. If only I had an electric cattle prod.......
We get back into the same boat that we were in this morning this time with a Sitar player playing softly in the background. There are about 300 cups, leaves and flowers wet pressed and molded into little candle holders. As we move through the water we light the candle and offer puja by making a wish, saying a prayer or offering a blessing and set it off into the sacred Ganga. We do this on our way to the flower ceremony. We get to the main ghat and it is PACKED! what looks like hundreds of boats with thousands of people! The only thing lit is the ghat where they are having a ceremony for the dead. It is a beautiful night.
We make our way out of boats, climbing over other boats and up the wall of stairs out of the ghat to take to the crowded streets of Varanasi. It is lit up and exciting and people are everywhere! I get a great shot of a family fabric store with a huge bull sitting on the floor like a pet dog. Shop after shop after shop, it is all beautiful but I must end my night before dinner because the attention is just too much this evening, even David cannot protect me now.
One more rickshaw ride to the hotel. Varanasi I will be back.
Tomorrow our flight to Delhi...am I in first?
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