Ganges purples,pinks and,Blues

India is a carnival of sights and sounds.A circus every single day!A festival of colour,a festival music,a sadhu festival,a festival for astrologers,a festival for textiles,jugglers,a festival for dancers.No admission needed,just walk out into the street and it's all there waiting for you.

India is best discovered by foot and when your shoes wear out there will be someone who is willing to fix them,for a few rupees of course.I didn't bother bringing any special shoes to India,and I've done heaps of walking.The soul of my one shoe cracked when I was in Varanasi,I discovered this one fine day,when stepping in Cow shit.Swearing has never really been my thing,however I may have cursed and said something to the extent of "shit,goddamn,fucking cow!",and as I was saying it I looked up and locked eyes with the cutest little old man wearing a tea towel on his head.He simply said "holy shit,good luck!"This is the beauty of India!

Varanasi one of the oldest and holiest cities in all of India,it's five thousand years old,furthermore that's five thousand years of recorded time.So who knows how old the city actually is.The town lies along the Ganges,which may be one of the most polluted bodies of water in the world,this doesn't stop the people of Varanasi from drinking it,bathing in it,washing there dishes or just taking a mid-afternoon dip,this is what I call faith!

You really feel the heaviness of the place.At the one end is the burning ghat where the Hindu's bring there dead to be cremated.You are strictly forbidden to take pictures.A Japanese couple either forgot to read this in there Japanese version of lonely planet or they decided to ignore the rule.They got hauled off to jail.I used to live in Ottawa and it would just about kill me to watch Japanese tourists posing with the decorative guards in front of the governor generals residence.Which makes me wonder if the same goes for burning bodies in Varanasi.

Along the river hundreds of flowers with candles are set adrift that you light at sun set.A large bell was ringing sending vibrating messages across Mother Ganga.There was chanting coming from all directions,mixed in with the beautiful sounds of sitars and strange instruments.Everything was illuminated with sound and colour,I tried to imagine what Varanasi was like five thousand years ago.Nothing has changed,only the faces.

The morning time by the river is magical,waking up at five AM and walking down to the river,having a chai and a thought.The river is set aglow with shades of purple,pinks and blues,a collaborative effort between the morning sun and the ghats that line the Ganges.

Down around the ghats at night there is a big chess scene.Chess originated in India and some say that playing cards was derived from chess.I got in the habit of coming down at night and playing with the locals.I was at a bit of a disadvantage not knowing Hindi.During these games it was the norm to have a crowd of twenty or more watching the game shouting random moves out or even reaching over and moving your pieces for you.The wins and losses bounced back and forth.With each loss came chants of "India,India,India!!!".I enjoyed my time in Varanasi and may return before heading back to Canada.

Before coming to India I loaded up my i-pod for those long train hauls.I haven't really used it much,If you haven't listened to "A meeting by the River" it's an album by Vishua Mohan Bhatt and Ry Cooder.You must own this record.I walked up and down the river from Ghat to Ghat listening to this.Track three Ganges delta blues will blow your mind!