Heading Home

And after an attempt at a nap at the hotel I headed to the airport for my very long trip home.  My first airplane food on the way home... a cheese sandwich with ketchup.  Yep, they like ketchup in India although I didn't ever put it on anything.  That had to be the absolutely most unappetizing thing I was served the entire trip.  I lucked out and had two empty seats next to me on the 14 hour flight from Delhi... I couldn't have asked for anything better.  I took a NyQuil and was out for over 10 hours of that flight, comfortably laying across all seats trying to heal away the cold I picked up that last day.

Drive to airport

Worst Airplane Food Ever

Sunrise in Newark

View of our neighborhood

Varanasi - Morning on the Ganges - Day 16

My last morning in India we headed out at 5:30 in the morning to catch the dawn activities on this festival day. I am missing the actual festival at night.  The morning brings farmers to the city where all those carts pick up their fruits and veggies for the day.  That was the only traffic until we got closer to the center of town.  Then the traffic surged right around the old town near the river.  We got on our boat and witnessed sunrise, smoggy though it was, and all the bathing and praying and even laundry that happens along the river ghats.

Varanasi - Sarnath - Day 15

November 24, 2015

Today we slept in a bit, sandwiched in between two days getting out by 5:30. We headed to Sarnath, the only Buddist temple visited this trip.

The first area we visited was the temple. This is also an auspicious time for Buddists, not just Hindus and they had a relic out on display, many pilgrims there to visit, celebrations and those prayer wheels. Feels almost like my visit to Bhutan last year, it was definitely familiar territory. 

Just next door we visited the excavated site where a follow of Budda created a large complex of stupas and a monestary among other things.  One of the reconstructed stupas was huge. Bigger than any I remember in Bhutan. 

After visiting this site we walked to the museum next door, relics 1000 years old and older recovered at the Sarnatha site as well as other locations are on display. 

Walking around the stupa with a prayer wheel. 

Lunch was at a place that used to be called Burger King until Burger King sued. They don't serve burgers but here's my ginormous 'mini-meal' which I did not finish. 

A couple of us went to a silk weaving demo, quite incredible the time and skill to make one piece. 

And this night Tara's friends who usually get together after the Festival bumped it up a day and a couple hours earlier so we could all attend. It was really like any other get together anyone might have, food, drinks, and doing a little catching up. 

Varanasi - Day 14

November 25, 2015

Here's a rare sight, no traffic on the road in Udaipur as we head to the airport at the ungodly hour of 5am.

Delhi Airport

No time to relax, we got to our hotels in Varanasi and had about an hour to get settled before heading out to one of the holiest places in India. It's also one of the craziest street scenes, pictures can't really do it justice. 

Once again, a rickshaw ride, this time down a main thoroughfare crammed with everything you can imagine. 

Then we are off on foot through the 'bazaar' toward the Ganges River. Tighter spaces get tighter although a cow does wander through a space I thought no cows would come. 

And then we are at the river, the sun is down, the smog thick and the river life continues as it does every day. We witness the crematorium on the river as well as the nightly celebration of Aarti from the boat. 

Here's all us tourists snapping away. 

We ended the night out at a cultural show put on just for tourists during this time. I found something for my kids to enjoy!! Yep, they got bouncy houses here too. The fun is universal. 

The pre-dinner show back at our hotel was a wedding that was just getting started. Below, the groom on his horse and the view from our room. 

Dinner, my last Thali.