₦airaland Forum

the rear view of my room. to one side was the gangis river. all sorts of shops down in the lanes

this was my guesthouse room. i booked 4 nights. 20 000 naira in total. there was no latch for the balcony door. i raised this question, but it seemed i was the first one to do so. the owner was at lost for an answer , then he said it was third floor (very HIGH ?! ) and no one would climb.

they would also switched off my power, as if by mistake. and then i felt hot and checked . sometimes it happened in midnight.

the famous guesthouse run by a japanese woman and her indian husband, one highly recommended by the guide book and possessing a mastering position of the locality.

but i found out that japanese woman was over 60, and very frail. maybe caused by the heat in india ,for i dont know how long time. a sacrifice for an exotic love ?

her rooms were small and not that clean as i assumed japanese things would usually be. so, i did not settle here.

there were more than 50 ghats. big and small. originally wharves. but they turned to be holy places for holy ceremonies, including burning the dead bodies, meters away from the snack shops and the bathing people.

this is another ghat .

the next day. very very hot ! even hotter than in the train. maybe 48 degree ? unbelievable. the water in the river helped nothing to cool down the temp.

backed to the GHAT, aka the wharf.

holy cows reposed at the enbankment. hobos , saints, thieves, all sorts of dubious people sleeping side by side with the cows and wild dogs.

young kid selling flutes. on my way back to the guesthouse. about 10pm.

thousands of people were watching, policemen were on duty.

not that romantic as in the documentary, i felt it boring and ceremoniously pretentious.

the ceremony. very stuffy and hot . fraught with incense . it was held every night. a must see activity . but i just saw it one time. i was not a hindu religionist, i felt nothing holy there. actually , boring. i started playing my phone, but was reminded by an uncle from behind to focus my mind to the ceremony..

middle class indian tourist holding a EOS camera, probably equipped with a low version tayota sedan.

the conch and other instruments . this site was the biggest one, around 2km away from my guesthouse. very tired. flopped myself on a seat and waited for the start.

prepared for the night ceremony. free to enter, the early people may have a seat.

day 19 to day 23 , varanasi. the holiest place of india. staying by the riverside and soaked up the culture.

a guy in the station helped me search out all the trains heading to that direction. some train was late for 6 hours. rarely punctual.

tofu dish, oily, salty and fried, with a crust of flour at surface.

end of day 18

ate my dinner on bed, the fried noodles with curry. a room with a rumbling AC, cold shower, moldy and rickety bedpost and wardrobe , which i opened to confirm no one was inside, and a TV with 2 channels and a snowflake screen. 5000naira one night as usual.

closest eatery near my hotel. 250naira for a tofu dish. diarrhea again, athough it tasted not bad. stir fried the tofu. he even was able to yank a fire on the pot, like that of a chinese chef. but everything was so seedy. no other alternatives.

not much happened today, after the capital and border exhilaration. arrived in lucknow late at 9pm. roaming dogs everywhere. i stood by the roadside waiting for staggling indians to accompany me to a hotel or an eatery, they helped me shoo away the fanged dogs. i found out the dogs really can sense your fear.

checked out the dessert shop before new delhi station , not many choices, too early .

a melon as dessert. 150naira. not sweet.

it was too early, they did not serve proper meals before 11am. so, i randomly chose a plate of curried rice, without meat, 400 naira, before i started today's train journey

man selling betel nut leaves for chewing

early morning, but it was 41 degree. the hottest record in history for Lagos was 39 degree.

daily average temperature in Lagos is 23 to 30 year round. you can not imagine what 40 to 48 feels like.

day 18 from new delhi to lucknow

the morning view in little tibet

typical tibetan thing.

funny is , this refugee colony is kind of a hideout for indian young lovers.

end of day 17

as infidels in india, tibetans eat PORK.

these are pork sausages. very welcomed among HYPOCRITIC indians who love pig meat as every healthy human being but forbidden to consume it out of political or religious reasons.

200 naira for several sausages. bit salty. tasted so-so to me. but to indians, they are "titbits".

rice rolls with gravy. good !

250 naira. not cheap. very little quantity , finished it by one gulp.

two types of rice rolls, this one without gravy, i prefered the other one

tibetan making chinese starchy snack. many indian girls enjoyed this food.

cold, a little elastic, soft, with or without spice. rice rolls. i think this is not tibetan cuisine, it is a chinese food . whatever.

the tibetans living in india without the sunburn in their plateau, look even whiter than most chinese. funny. in china, tibetan are looked down on for being dark.

4000 naira for fan room. 35 degree tonight. but i just wanted to save my money.

the immaculate toilet, guess few indians live here, that is why it sparks with light. after the nightmare of indian toilets, i feel i can lick this one with my tongue.

chinese style accommodation, the cleanest i ever seen in whole india.