Varanassi

Wow, what a place. After Delhi, Nicole and I took a flight to the holy city of Varanassi. This is the place people bring their loved one to die. We were stay right near the main Burning Ghat, where a fire burns 24/7 cremating bodies. What a sight.
Friends that I had met in Rishikesh were in Varanassi so we met up for a whirl wind tour and an awesome dinner in town. Next day we took a boat ride where it was so foggy we couldn't see anything and froze to death. On the way the boat bumped into what I had already thought was floater. The boat dude then took his oar, hit the body and called out, "see its a little boy"... life and death eh? How's that for in your face?
After three days and two nights in Varanassi the long trip to Agra was to begin. We took the train... what a mistake. We arrived at the train station at 2.30pm early because we had wait-listed train tickets and need to get a confirmed seat. The train was supposed to depart at 5pm... 5pm came and went before too long it was 6pm, 7pm..... 9pm... we board. Within our cabin was a group of 60 Thai tourists... around 60 plus years old on average... oh my, not too much fun. The 10 hour train trip turned into 24 hours, never have I been more irritated.
We were supposed to arrive in Agra at 6am, this became 6pm and our hotel had given our room away. So we raced to another Guest House payed stupid money for a really crappy room and ran down to the Taj. Pfew... just made it, we were close to the last people through. We still had to pay full price and only got less than an hour to have a look. Nicole was still very impressed, as was I for the second time.
Next morning we took off at 6am, got to the next train station for another 10 hour journey to Haridwar, only an hour behind this time... from Haridwar we jumped onto a bus for an hour to Rishikesh, then a taxi to the bridge where we walked to our fantastic $4 per night guest house in the mountains... for ten days of relaxation before I head home. I can't believe my trip is nearly over, I've decided to book a driver to Delhi to get to the airport rather than chance the train now, nearly Christmas and New Years - what a treat this last couple of months in 2008 has been.
I've gotten my Christmas present, a distinction in statistics and a high distinction in economics, heck yeah, bring it on.
love to all, miss ya guts Angela.