INDIA VACATION 2007

INTRODUCTION
My husband Paul and I took a five-week vacation to India at the very end of 2007. We traveled by train - taking six overnight trains - and by rented car with a driver. India was everything we anticipated and more. The most wonderful thing about the country, though, was the people themselves. Everywhere we went, they were kind, friendly, and charming. It was easy and enjoyable to engage in conversation and to develop a rapport. Second to the people, of course, was the great food.
The photo above is of the Gaitor cenotaph near Jaipur in Rajasthan.



THE HOLY GANGES AT VARANASI
There are more than 100 ghats along the Ganges at Varanasi, a city in the north of India. Here pilgrims come to pray and bathe. Varanasi (historic Benares) is the city of Lord Siva. Devout Hindus pray for the protection of Siva when they perform puja (i.e., pray) in the Ganges. Cremations are performed at the Manikarnika ghat where an eternal fire has been burning for 4,000 years. The belief is that the soul will than go to Nirvana and escape the cycle of birth, death and re-incarnation. The first photo below shows people bathing in the Ganges at Varanasi. The second photo is of the Manikarnika ghat.