Varanasi

November 20, 2008
We arrived in Varanasi at about 8:30 this morning after a 14-hour train ride. It was a terrible train ride. I don’t know why but I just couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was the little kid sleeping near us who had the worst sleep apnea I have ever heard in my life, or maybe it was the hundreds of cockroaches crawling near my head, or maybe it was the fact that I had a gun near my face when a police officer came to our car to get our signatures, or perhaps it was the lingering memory of what I saw yesterday with the beggar children. My guess is that it is a combination of everything. Basically, it was the worst night of sleep that I have had in a long time. I haven’t slept well in India, but last night was terrible. I need some time to get my thoughts straight.

Today was a pretty relaxed day once we arrived at our guesthouse. We had about an hour of talking and that was it. I’m looking forward to learning more about Hinduism. I feel like we have been surrounded by this religion ever since we got here and I don’t really know all that much about it. It will be nice to get some facts about it and finally make some connections. I’m so tired and we have to get up really early tomorrow for a boat ride on the River Ganges. I hope that I will be able to fall asleep quickly tonight.