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Other entries in Varanassi

About to leave Varanasi

We're leaving Varanasi this evening (for Agra). It has been a mad few days. There isn't a hell of a lot to see here. We've mainly been getting music lessons. My singing lesson went well yesterday, started my first raag which seems pretty hard. I also got tabla lessons. I thought I would totally suck at it as I've never played a percussion instrument in my life. But it was actually a good start. I didn't do too badly. :) We must have practiced yesterday for about 3 hours. Ben and I have both bought a pair of tablas each. I bought mine from a different place and paid about AUD$133 for it! I bought mine directly from the manufacturer so it was quite cheap. Getting a few ideas for business ideas here. Maybe thinkin about buying instruments from here and selling it back home. Let's see what happens, just ideas at the moment but we're checking out all the music shops everywhere we go so we have contacts.

By the way, I forgot to mention that the area around the Ganges River is inhabited by monkies. Our hotel has iron gates around some of the entrances so they don't come in. And we've been warned not to leave our doors or windows open when we leave the room, cuz they'll come in and steal your clothes and belongings. :P They have also been known to bite people! Thankfully we haven't been that close to one. The dogs here also don't seem to get along with each other. They're constantly having face offs with each other.

I enjoyed some of Varanasi, but it's really just another mad city. Don't believe the hype, it's not as spiritual a place as people make it out to be! In our experience, we've found that we can't trust most of the locals here. Everybody wants something from you, usually money. And why the hell should we just GIVE them money? We've spoken to a few tourists and they feel exactly the same way. One tourist told us he felt "persecuted". When we came to India we wanted to hang out with some of the locals and have normal conversations with them. It's impossible to do that cuz they only wanna talk to you so they can ask you to come to their shop where they force you to buy things or ask you for baksheesh. Baksheesh is like a donation or a bribe of some sort.

We got locked out of our hotel the other night and this Hindu guy with freaky makeup decided he would help us. In his broken english he said that he would help us get in for baksheesh. When I heard that, I was really angry. I don't understand why people here can't help just cuz they WANT to help, you know? To cut a long story short, he was really annoying us and we were both getting frustrated. Ben banged on the doors really hard and they were finally opened. We went inside and he was going on about his baksheesh. I turned around to him and yelled "NO BAKSHEESH!!". He didn't even get us in anyway. As we found out in the morning from our hotel manager, he was drunk! Moron.

I really despise the guys here. Very few of them are nice to you. Alot stare cuz I think they wonder whether I'm Indian or not, but half of them leer. This has been happening all throughout the trip and especially here. They aren't even men, they're just complete scum. I would even treat a piece of poo better. When they look at you it makes you feel really dirty. I find myself yelling out "what the f*** are you staring at?". Ben also. It was happening all day yesterday and was just pissing me right off. While walking back to our hotel this guy walked past me, looked straight into my face and goes "helllllllooooooo madam" in a real sleazy way. My patience had already worn thin by then, so as he walked past me I punched him. He didn't dare turn around and good thing for his sake. A lot of the men here are complete scum. They preach to be so religious, but they're hypocrites. They're lying to themselves till the day they die, I don't think half of them believe in being good people.

So far the children have been the highlights of our trip. They're so innocent and will run up to you and wanna speak with you. We were surrounded by a group of kids yesterday, wanting to hold our hands and talk to us. Some want photos taken. They'll just giggle when you speak to them and they really enjoy it. It's really nice for us too. :) Makes us feel good. Too bad their parents will probably teach them to be as ignorant as they are when they grow up.

I don't regret coming to India at all, even though sometimes it might sound like it. If I didn't want to experience something different I would have just stayed in Melbourne. We're experiencing a lot here and I feel like it's making us both stronger people. India is not a place to go for a relaxing holiday, it's a place for experience and self-learning. This country is slowly teaching me patience and tolerance. I know to be good to people who are nice to me and not take shit from anyone else. Although I haven't found what I've been looking for from this place...and that is a hint of spirituality.

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