Longing for mountains

Bert and the Ganges

On the Ganges, Varanasi, being filmed by Hans

We are in the north of India, getting closer to Bhutan now. After leaving Delhi, with very good memories of the concert there, we first travelled to Agra (saw the Taj Mahal..) and then to Varanasi.

On the road from Agra to Varanasi we had a really nice adventure after driving in the dark for hours in a place where it seemed as if all the trucks of entire India were there, slowly proceeding, thus making it a hard road to travel. At around 12 pm, tired and wondering if we’d ever get there, Bert and I stopped at a small petrol station in the middle of nowhere..

I heard music as they were filling up the car with diesel, coming from a barn just aside and saw people coming near, first the men, then the women, dressed for a party and looking very friendly. They invited us into the barn where a 24 hours Hare Krisna worship was being helt by this family that was also celebrating the birthday of a 20 year old relative. Bert and I were offered apples and bananas from a small shrine where some musicians played and chanted their music. Then we were offered delicious food, for as we were told a guest to them is like god and is equally treated. For about an hour we all sat there, both parties enjoying the encounter, everyone making pictures of one another in a very cheerful mood. Then we left again for Varanasi and were part of a beautiful boat trip on the Ganges the next day. Very special seeing that all…the people ritually washing in the (heavily polluted but to them still holy water), the body burnings on the shore, the boats and light and water…

Tomorrow we’ll be heading in the direction of Darjeeling..the mountains (where we’ll make some more on site recordings for the DVD) and I must say I’m starting to yearn for them. For aside from it’s eminent beauty the  crowded Indus Valley through which we’re travelling is covered with smog and smell and I long for some clean air.

shrine

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