Tag Archives: On The Road

Mumbai Again

I’m not sure if I like this place or not, but I get the idea that I’d love it if I stayed here for a year. I’m a bit of a sucker for old colonial houses, I’d have to get one of those – and a posse full of those locals that speak English in such a flowery way, using too many words because it’s fashionable, that use Nay instead of saying no. I’m not being sarcastic there either, I love it.

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New Year

New Year in Varanasi has been a sobering affair. Christmas was a succession of warm days followed by cool nights that allowed for deep untroubled sleep, but new year was met by a cold weather front that left Varanasi draped in cold, damp air that left many people wandering about draped in blankets. Any locals unlucky enough to be sleeping rough were in danger of their lives as they are often not healthy enough to cope with such a cold snap, spirits seemed dampened too as rooms are unheated and places where people often frequent are outside.

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Varanasi

I read today that Varanasi is the world’s oldest inhabited city with an unbroken lineage back to 800BC, and there is evidence of early Aryan settlements as far back as 4000 years ago. I can certainly believe it, the small alleys and dirt roads that snake around the back of the ghats look timeless, every nook and cranny seems to have grown as slowly as a snails shell, encrusted with time.

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Mahindra College, Pune to Varanasi.

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I woke to a sunrise that calmed the clamorous valley of the previous night. I walked up the arcing stairs of the YHA to the roof and was met with a far warmer world. The laborers on the neighboring building site were huddled around warming morning fires, Pune had become solid after the little pinpricks of light had joined together.

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