(in the meanwhile: Benares is the same as Varanasi))

I've always heard about Benares, I only didn't know that the city had different names... what a surprise when I discovered that this disturbing place was already in my route under the name of... Varanasi... no way to escape: it's a fast obligatory step after arriving to India back from Nepal. After everything I've heard, I started reading and seeing pictures of this city and missed one day of work at the library. Doesn't matter: it seems like it's better not to arrive in Benares/Varanasi without knowing what to expect!

Here something really interesting about the burial rituals...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFNKdMSl2A0&feature=fvw

Just so sad some people loose time posting stupid comments with such a unrespectul regard toward other's culture! But see how stupid these youtube commentators really are: someone is saying that Hindus are "cannibals"... - "nice word to use, dude! but well, sorry to inform you: they do not eat the ashes of their beloved ones afterwards ;)"

Step 3: Defining a route

I know our final plan will depend on dozens of factors (such as weather, us not getting sick, duration we decide to stay here or there), but here are the first sketches of what we would like to see/do...

First of all - get a good raiway network map of of India!


Then enjoy yourself with the help of Google maps... ;)
Plan 1. Without Goa (sounds more realistic, but we'd love to see the old Portuguese colony)

Plan 2. Huge trip (this would be our ideal trip and includes Goa & south, but sounds like impossible in 6 weeks!)

Step 2: Getting extra information

And here am I again. A lot of things happened since the last time I wrote, so let's see if I can globally update information in the next posts without missing any important detail.

As the title of this post advirtises, this will be about "extra information". As a matter of fact, I have got in the past weeks the general impression that, doesn't matter how much you read about India, you will never be really prepared for it.

Besides of getting information from the internet, I tried to talk to some people who traveled there, as well as to some people from there.

Most Europeans I met who already went to India seem to stare me with a confused feeling between being happy/sorry for me at once. Why actually? Well I know all the people are different that every single person can have a totally different impression of the exact same situation, but I confess that it still scares me a bit... but on the other hand, I want so much to see it with my own eyes!

On the other hand, people who never been there can be generally divided into 2 groups: those who are jealous I'm going to India, and those who think I'm crazy. I obviously prefer the 1st one, but I reckon that much of their "jelousy" (in a positive sense) comes from an exotic idea of India as a mystical, fairy-tale-like place... which it appearently is not.

Here are some general comments I've been hearing along the last weeks from those who do seem to have some knowledge of cause...

1. It will be smelly: honestly, I feel unable to judge this information from my perspective;

2. the weather can be a problem in itself: okay, it's monsoon time when we come, but will it be so hard for someone who grew up in a tropical country like Brazil?!;

3. poverty will shock me/us: another point I - perhaps wrongly - tend to but in the balance... I've seen poor people before... I've seen people taking food from garbage, I've seen kids fighting for a bread, I've seen desperate people. But experienced India travelers insist it's still a "different" poverty. Again on topic smell: okay, being in São Paulo shows one how dirty and smelly a river can be, so nothing impressive about the Ganghes... on the other hand, people don't wash their food in the Tiete, they don't swim on the Tiete, they don't wash their cadavres on the Tiete... so maybe there is a huge difference indeed!

4. I'll get sick: just as information, I'm one who's usually sick... I usually have "minor" illness, such as cold, fiver, stomachache, infection, etc. Would you say I better try to avoid getting sick by taking it easy? Then I wouldn't have a life at all... I'm used to pain and I'm used to being sick and I'm not afraid of it anymore;

5. I have to pay a lot of attention of what I eat, but I'll still get sick: okay, so what should I do? Taking my own food directly from France? I know, I shouldn't take any uncooked vegetables or fruits, be careful with water, milk and even with ice-creams and milk-shakes... but I'll still probably drink a mango lassi at least once in my entire trip, even if it makes me stay one week in bed with dhiarrea;

6. In terms of safety, it's all right there: and here I tend to wrongly compare it to Brazil again. I'm used to violence, I've grown up in the suburbs... and I had the wrong impression that all poor countries are as dangerous as Brazil. But people keep telling me: "don't worry, it's a completely safe country in comparison to South America"... which kinds of relieves and offends me at once;

7. In revenge, I have to be careful about the monkeys: it seems that they're generally looking for food, but it's bad if one of them takes my wallet by mistake. They seem to be the real thieves and seem to be everywhere... thanks God they don't have guns like Brazilian drug dealers!;

8. After two weeks, I'll want to go home: what?!?!?

9. But, in the end, I'll wish I could stay longer: that's a relief!

10. It will make me change my mind in a lot of senses: that's the reason we travel!

I cannot know how much if this all is truth and where the paranoia begins... maybe there's a part of prejudice and a part of cutural misunderstanding in all this, but I admit some things might be right (i.e. better take care of what you eat:). But luckily I can come back here in a couple of months to tell my own story...