London or Bombay?

Varanasi was hell and there was nothing redeeming about it.  The roads are full of cars, cows, people begging, cycle rickshaws, and motorised rickshaws.  We took a taxi to the Ganges River and watched people washing in the murky water that makes the Thames look like spring water.  It is Holy Water and people bathe there amongst the cows.  The whole place absolutely stunk as sewage is also pumped into there from the whole city.  For lunch Caine had minestrone soup with beetles - Nice! we left as soon as possible.

We have now arrived in "one of the most appalling cities of either hemisphere" as Aldous Huxley put it.  He was actually speaking of the architecture "that architectural Sodom, their ugliness is positive, daemonic."  I actually quite like it though and it feels very Londony sometimes, especially when an red London bus shoots past and a pigeon poo's on my head. 

The train from Varanasi took 26hrs. Even though we booked two weeks in advance on the internet and they took the money out of our account they had no seats for us and we thought we'd have to stand for the whole journey.  Thankfully, the next station hadn't filled there quota so we were given two beds, in an air-conditioned carriage with sheets and a guy brought us tea and watery curry with rice throughout. 

In Bombay, the divide between 'rich and poor' is shocking and horrendous.  This city has two extremes.  The 5 star hotels line the pavements, inside they have marble floors throughout and swinging chandeliers, the people eat the finest foods in the world - while outside kids beg for their next bit of food, mothers cry and plead to you as they have nothing to give their babies and whole families sleep on the pavement.  A lady in Africa said to us once "if you think Africa is poor, forget it, you ain't seen nothing till you've been to India.  We are rich in comparison".  We laughed but now we see her point.