Final days in India + PIcs and a Video

Hi All,

We're down to our last couple of days in India and today we take a train to our last official stop over.
Varanasi
Our time in Varanasi was unforgettable. The best thing we did was an early morning boat ride which took you through the Ganges river and you were able to see everybody doing their ritual baths and prayers. The water from the Ganges is disgusting to say the least. We floated by a gray mass of unidentified origin, I pointed to it and asked our guide and he said "baby". Yes, it was a dead baby floating in the water. Apparently if a baby dies you put it in the Ganges uncremated (cremation is the norm for dead adults, getting your ashes thrown in the Ganges is very holy). A couple meters down there was most definitely a rotting dog. Still people were in there doing there prayers, dunking their heads under and I even saw a couple people drinking the water. It's as different a world as I could ever imagine.

Next
We're continuing our Buddhist pilgramage and today we're off to Bodhgaya which is where the Buddha became enlightened. After that we go to Calcutta to catch a plane to Bangkok and then we catch a plane to Phonm Penh, Cambodia where we'll spend some time seeing the famous Angkor Wat. After that we don't know, but we're getting more and more tired.

Video
Here is a short video of Gay getting blessed by an elephant outside a Hindu temple in Maduri. Elephants represent Ganesh and Ganesh represents good fortune.


Pictures
First set is from Pondicherry a little paradise city that was once owned by the French, and Mamilipurim which housed some ancient rock carvings. Also a trip to the famous Sun temple in Puri.

Second set is from Sarnath, the place where the Buddha gave his first teachings and also Varanasi.

Third set is a random assortment from my camera. Mostly from Allepy, Maduri and Pondicherry.