I made it back to India on the 6th and have been in the city of Varanasi since. Directly on the river Ganges, this is considered a very (the most?) holy place for Hindus. There's so much to say about this incredibly powerful and frustrating and beautiful city but, like I said, I'm about to run off so that'll have to wait for another time. In any case, this is one of those places that you "feel" more than you can "see" and describing it in its personal significance to me, I imagine, would be a real task indeed.
I'm going to be starting a Vipassana course in a few days then trying to catch a boat to the Andaman Islands (wish me luck), so it'll probably be after the new year before I can give a proper update. Until then, I hope you're all healthy and happy!
Here are some photos of things that I saw since I last wrote.
This explosion of color is at Lumbini, the birthplace of the Buddha. The back lawn area has been overtaken by a million prayer flags. This is a guy who wanted me to take his photo after I showed him a photo I took of a little girl that was also there.
Blue Lassie. Oh man. This is the place to be in Varanasi. Yogurt and fruit drinks (lassies) is all they serve here, with the exception of a delicious desert that comes only in the night. The best in town, and this fellow here is watching the magic in action.
This massive golden door is at a temple in Sarnath, the town where the Buddha gave his first sermon after his enlightenment. The temple in question is not actually the one in the place that the town is famous for, but immediately next to it. It's a long story, but I wound up never actually making it inside the gate. Oh, well.
And, finally, back in Varanasi and on a ghat along the Ganges, is a man performing some sort of puja. He was actually in a group of about four or five, but this was my favorite photo of the bunch.
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