night singers

i like animals, and they usually like me. i'm not sure what it was about varanasi that made the animals dislike me, but they did. i had one cow snort and scratch the ground like he was going to charge me, and down a ridiculously narrow alley another one actually attempted to gore me in the gut. of course he wasn't succesful so it was just a forceful head butt to the stomach making my voice do that sound like someone punched in the stomach (which he did, i guess). it was embarrassing and all the indians around had really confused looks on their faces. i have no idea how i provoked him. all the goats and dogs around would walk straight into me.

i already said that varanasi is mysterious. all along the ganges river are the ghats where people make offerings and bath in the water. it is colorful and festive in areas. varanasi also has several burning ghats along its edge where they cremate bodies. we stayed near one of them. you aren't allowed to take pictures of it for obvious reasons. the energy around it is interesting. though i think cremation is actually a good idea, i didn't like hanging around the ghat for too long. walking through the wood stacks piled up ready to be used near the ghat was like walking through a valley of wood mountains. they are organized by type of wood, some more expensive or significant than others.

there are strange vibes throughout parts of the city. at all hours of the day and night there are rituals going on. some of them are pleasant and honorary, some of them to someone who has no idea what is going on are strange. we have been awoken by the call to prayer at about five in the morning every morning for the last month and a half. we really enjoy hearing it during the day, but don't particularly like having it blasted in our sleepy ears in the morning. so we were a bit excited to come to india and know we would be able to sleep at least until sunrise. there is a huge amount of ruckus at all hours of night in india too, but none as alarming as a megaphone prayer at five in the morning. so we thought. watch the video below and listen. it sounded so loud i thought they may be actually be on our balcony, so i went out to check. when I went onto the balcony from the dark of the night a huge monkey lurched at my face! fortunately for me and unfortunately for him i still had my hand on the door and was able to use the door as a shield. after i was safely inside with the door still cracked he just hung on the door (the way a monkey from a barrel of monkeys would) and gritted his teeth at me. ah! don't!

this chant (with all due respect because it is probably religious) is the worst thing to have stuck in your head when you cant sleep. can you hear how they are sort of singing it in a round? that makes it worse, because you cant stop singing it. it goes on and on my friend...

Untitled from sarah winward on Vimeo.