Huge Blog

Well I know it has been a while since i last wrote but the internet has been so slow or non existent where we have been that i gave up! Anyway to up-date you; We left Rajasthan and headed up to Dharamsala and Manali in the Himalayas, which was beautiful and a welcome relief from the heat of India. Surrounded by snow capped mountains and beautiful scenery.
From there we came to Rishikesh where the Ganges river begins, the most sacred river in India and also the only source of water for many millions of people who wash in it, cook with it, bathe their animals in it and also float their dead relatives down it at ther burning Ghats in Varanassi! we went white water radting down it, luckily this was a the begining of the river though and not at the end. As by the time we got to Varanasi where the burning ghats are (cremations take place) the water was almost septic. Ghats of Ganga are perhaps the holiest spots of Varanasi. The Ganga Ghats at Varanasi are full of pilgrims who flock to the place to take a dip in the holy Ganges, which is believed to absolve one from all sins. They bring ther dead relatives to the Ghats and buy the wood for the funeral pyre and you can see the dead bodies being burnt. You feel really spiritual there even if you are not particularly religious as there are ceremonies going on all the time along the Ghats people offering puja (prayer) and floating candles and offerings of flowers money etc. There are also lots of Sadhus (holy men) who cover themseleves in the ashes of the dead and walk around naked.they have amazing dreadlocks so Bryan fitted in well although he didnt partake in covering himself in the ashes! During the height of summer the number of bodies per day that get cremated between the two ghats reaches 650 to 700 and normally around 500 per day. People go there to die and when they have taken a dip in that water as well as DRUNK IT!!! they die, unsurprisingly quite soon after. Finally got to see the Taj Mahal it was stunning and Bryan took a few princess Di style pics of me there! Then it was off to Nepal! What an awesome place and so different from India. The restraunts were cleaner for one thing and for the first time in Months we could eat some red meat and WINE yay!! However India has been very kind to ,my waistline i have lost 2 stone and i feel great. We wont be rushing out for a curry for a while though. In Nepal we caught up with some friends we met down South, Graham and Shelley from Brighton and we decided we would cut our trip short by a few weeks and head straight to Thailand with them! However we had to get from Nepal (top of India)to Mumbai so we had to take a bus from Kathmandu to the Indian border 10 hours all day! Then a train across India in scorching 45 degree heat for 33 hours (actually took 40) we did treat ourselves to air-conditioned sleeper this time though! It was a great journey though seeing the changing colours of the Indian landscape and watching the villagers tend their crops. They have it really tough i can tell you, i wouldnt swap my life with theirs and you can see why they wish for there next ( and better) life to start. We are now in Bangkok! A lot lot easier than India and amazing shopping Bryan has to keep prising my fingers off handbags, jewellery clothes etc, I am like a kid in a sweet shop! The food is wonderful here too so i am going to have to watch how much i eat here, thinking about that wedding dress next year!! Anyway thats us up to date for the time being, we are off to Koh Samui and the islands next and a months r & r on the beach before we go home and start work!