Trainstation in Bodhgaya, Bihar

Sign outside a Bhutanese monastry in Bodhgaya. The monastry had a gusethouse as well and I guess they had had some problems with former guests killng their flowers!

Me and Elin outside of Taj Mahal in Agra, just over a month ago.

The holy cow seems to live in this shop. It has at least always been there when I have passed by. Well, I guess there is only one word for this: INDIA!

You alwayz have to take of your shoes before entering a temple here, and this sign we found outside of Dalai lamas temple in Dharamsala. :)

"Varanasi is the place of learning and burning"

My teachers name is Anand, he is a very good teacher and his name means 'enjoy' in Hindi. I have now taken hindilessons from him during more or less two weeks. A couple of days ago when we had started our lesson (sitting on the stonefloor in some room in the school were Anand teaches), i looked up at the table we where sitting next to, there was a man sleeping. I had'nt noticed him before and Anand did'nt seem surprised that he was there. I don't remember what Anand said but supposedly something like "don't worry, he is just sleeping there". strange for me, normal in India.

Another day I was down the gaths, the stairs that leads down to the holy river Ganga. There I asked a moonk for the way to the Main ghat. We started to talk and decided he could show me the Vishunath temple, one of the most important hindutemples in Varanasi. We came to the enterance and toke of our sandals (In the indian temples you alwayz have to walk barefoot). After that we had to queue to be searched by the guards. This secueritycontrol is to prevent terrorist from destroying the temple. When i passed the "malequeue" and headed for the "femalequeue" to be searched by a female guard, one man shouted at me to stop. He looked confused, toke a rapid look at me and then told me to continue. What i think happened was that he misstaked me for a boy. Due to the recent and pretty radical haircut i made in Bodhgaya (total shave), plus the not-so-feminine-cloths i was wearing i can understand his misstake, but at the hotel they laughed a lot when i told them about the incident.

Me and Dinesh (the moonk) continued towards the templegate and once again we were getting searched by the guards. Then one of the guards said something to Dinesh, something about me being a hindu or not. We were shown into a room next to the temple where two more guards where sitting. Dinesh talked to them for a while and then they asked for my name, country and passport. After having told him that I did'nt have my passport with me I think one of them explained that only hindus were allowed into the temple. After that he asked: "Do you belive in Shiva?" I didn't want to lie, but at the same time I wanted to see the temple, so I answered rather diplomatic: "I don't know so much about Shiva". The man just looked at me, whereupon he seroiusly annonced "Shiva is the destroyer!" After that, he gave me a sign that said it was okay to pass. Me and Dinesh headed for the temple for the second time and this time the guards let us pass! Inside the tempel the atmosphere was everything but sacred, with guards pushing people forward, making them not stopping for to long time in the same spot. There where so many people at Vishunath temple so a guess they had to make people move so that their would'nt be a holy traffic congestion inside the temple.

I have started to help a german girl, Fiona, with english classes for kids. Fiona has already been at the school for three months and I will only be able to help her for two weeks as i am soon leaving varanasi. But Fiona seems happy to have found someone that can play guitar and the popular "Coconutsong" that Fiona has introduces to the kids and that they really love. After one lesson we are exhausted. The reason is that we all the time have to tell the kids to shut up, sit still, not hit eachother etcetera, etcetera, every once in a while. Teaching methods and pupils behavoiur is a little different here from Sweden.

Now I only have 1 1/2 week left in Varanasi before i'm going to Delhi to meet up with Martin. I think i'm gonna feel sad to leave Varanasi but at the same time I look forward to travelling with Martin and seeing new places of India. I'm also looking forward to travelling because I sometimes feel that here in Varanasi I have got engaged in so many things. The hindilessons, the englishclasses and all the 'friends' on the road that wants to buy me a glas of chai everytime I pass them by. Days without any "plans" has the last two weeks been unusual. Though I shall not complain because this is also the reason why i decided to stay on one spot for 5 weeks; I wanted to get to know more then only the important monuments of Varanasi, I wanted to get to know the people as well.

By the way, the origin of todays blogmessage is from a guy in the hotel. It was one of the first thing he told me and Elin when we arrived to Varanasi 4 weeks ago.

Back in the holy Varanasi

This time I have decided to write in english because to write in swedish, with our three special letters, taskes a long time here. So what has happened since last time.. Well me and Elin went to Bodhgaya and stayed there for one week. In Bodhgaya there is the Bodhithree under which according to buddhism Buddha had his enlightment. It was really interesting to experience that town because there where so many different kind of buddisms there. There was tempels from Thailand, Bhutan, Tibet, nepal (i think) etc. And of course the Maintempel where the Bodhithree was. We sleept in a tempel and monastry called Karma tempel. It was a monastry for young tibeten monks. One day I talked to one of the monks teacher. While we where talking, the monastarys dogs came to say hello. The monk chassed them away and said that sometimes, when they poped somewhere, he had to beat them. He also said that when the young monks didn't do there homework, he had to beat them to. I was very surprised to hear this from a buddhistmonk. Well I guess my predjudices about the buddhist monks holiness fick sig en torn, so to speak. Though, I thought it was intresting to see how differently two cultures can interpret a religion. According to my view of buddhism, one can not beat another person (normally at least). but I guess why i think like that, is because I am growned up in a culture where it is not ok to beat eachother (not even for educational purposes). According to buddhism one shall try reduce the sufferings for all beings. Well, i can imagine that this buddhist monks view of reducing suffering for this boys was to have them make their homework. And the only way he knew of how to make that, was by beating them. So i guess no matter what religion or belife you belong to, you will always be coloured by your culture.

In Bodhgaya we meet a japanese who payed our rickhewdrive to the train station, because he had been in sweden and "learnt so much". I guess he wanted to pay that us as a "thank you" to the swedes. Funny... :)

Now I am in Varanasi again. I say I, because now i'm alone. Elin went to Delhi this wednesday and last night she flew to Sweden. She most be home by now.

I have started to take some hindiclasses with a very good teacher. Many people here appreciate that I try to learn their language. In the hotel even the guys who is cleaning and making the food speaks a lot with me. (normally i don't think they have that much contact with the turists). They are the best to talk to for practising the hindi, because they don't speak so much english. Except from them there works Bhai, Panda and Rajeev. They take care of the turists and have a higher position in the hotel hierarki. Bahi is laughng all the time and has a space between his fronth teeth, with Rajeev it is becoming a tradition to play chess in the evenings and Panda just has a funny name (Elin thought he looked a little bit like a Panda as well, and I can just agree).

Now i'm going to pull out my earplugs and go back to the hotell. My earplugs is the most precious thing I have in this country, without them i would be both deaf and crazy!

Take care til next time..

Jag, Elin, Raj & Farok på pickup-flaket på väg mot trekking i Himalaya. Att sitta på pickup-kanten var livsfarligt och urkul!

Dal lake i Srinagar, Kashmir vid skymningen