Friday, February 1, 2008

Varanasi

Saturday, February 2

Oh, the places we have been and the things we have seen! Unfortunately, I cannot post photos on the blog. An undersea cable snapped in the Mediterranean and internet access has slowed to a crawl in all of India. It should be fixed by next week and I hope to be able to post more photos then. In the meantime, I have to find time to do some serious editing! I have taken over 6,000 digital photos in a week and half. At this rate I will run out of external hard drives pretty soon! There are just too many things to see and I am always saying, Oh, look at that! Which usually means I take a photo. Some of them are from moving, bouncing rickshaws so I am sure I will delete quite a few if I can just find time to do it. The apostrophe and quotation marks do not work on this computer so it is awkward to write anything.

We leave Varanasi, the oldest established city in the world, today for Khajuraho. Search Google to find out what it is famous for :-)

I hope to have internet access in Agra in a few days and will try to post some photos then. India is incredible!

4 comments:

Kip Manley said...

Okay. Now you're being coy, and you're using emoticons.

Anonymous said...

Three cups of coffee at 7:30AM ...
What does the air smell like? Is it cooler or warmer than you imagined?
What does the food taste like? Spicy, fruity, earthy? Are the drinks primarily hot or cold?
Do many people walk around barefoot? Has the booming technological industry affected the outskirts?
Are there McDonalds/Lowes/Kmarts? (we were surprised and a little dismayed to see them in the Yucatan, although the Maya said they like the opportunities the retail extablishments present).
Are the caste systems still as entrenched as in the past?
Have you ever had a henna tattoo?
What do you miss most about home? Are there any inconveniencies you didn't expect?

Tina Manley said...

Hi, Sandy - You don't want to know what the air smells like! Mostly sewage and burning cow dung. It is much cooler than I imagined. Schools have closed across northern India because the temperature got down to 41 degrees Farenheit and the schools are not heated. The food as not as spicy as I expected, except on the buffet at the Hilton Hotel. It's not nearly as spicy as the Indian food I cook at home, but they may be catering to foreigners' tastes. There have been three McDonalds that I've seen in the big cities and Pizza Hut, too, but no Lowes or KMarts. A Burger King that had nothing to do with the chain. It's pretty common to name things after big chains in the USA but it's usually a tiny wooden shop with big sign. There was Disney hotel with paintings of Mickey and Donald that I'm sure Walt would roll over if he saw! I've tried to photograph some of these, but we're usually flying by in the incredible traffic.

I photographed some Henna tattooing but I've never had or wanted one! I miss clean water most! That's really the only inconvenience. I'm used to peeing behind trees so the toilets are not a problem.

I love India so far!

Tina

Anonymous said...

6000? wow, for sure there will be some left after editing, digital world. best stefan rohner