down the ganga

photos from varanasi, uttar pradesh

preparing for the evening aarti:aarti:
sunrise on the ganga:
morning puja:




these guys look ready for a day at the office:wandering the ghats in the morning:


cricket game on the ghats:
9-yard saris drying:
laundry drying in the hot morning sun:




dung patties slapped on walls to dry:
wandering back alleys:


vegetable market:
street temple:


varanasi traffic:a thickness to the air:


overlooking the ghats and the ganga:
more laundry:


wandering around the campus of benares hindu university with new friends carson, melissa, and runphet, a monk from thailand (after eating breakfast at the thai monk dormitory on campus...yum!)
crossing the ganga:
on the ghats:
streetside tea stall, drinking tea out of disposable clay cups:
at the train station

if only carrom boards weren't so big...

photos from orchha (near the border between madya pradesh and uttar pradesh). it was 46.2C when i arrived... that's 115F.

on the train from chandigarh to jhansi. sometimes indian landscapes really remind me of some kind of primordial environment, like i wouldn't be so surprised to see dinosaurs roaming around:the cenotaphs in orchha:
by the river:
women singing bhajans outside the ram temple:
exploring vacant palaces:

a heaven of passageways and hidden staircases:

most amazing blend of indo and islamic architecture i think i've ever seen:

walking back to town:
really friendly family:
the neighbors were nice too:

i got recruited to play carrom, suddenly getting to see a little piece of the warm social atmosphere of this tiny, one-street-corner town.

the california of india

photos from chandigarh, the capital of punjab and haryana, created after partition when lahore became part of the new pakistan. meant to represent the new face of india, city planning was developed by architect le corbusier.

creative street napping:i ate this for breakfast:

in the nek chand "rock" garden, a huge outdoor labyrinth of awesome junk art:
mosiacs:
swings!

getting the feeling like the figures are watching me as much as i'm watching them:

broken bangles into dresses:

umm... yes:
bizarre...?
in the bougainvillea garden ( here!):
um, this is india?

on the mall:
traffic in chandigarh:
bike store!! ahhh!! the guy in the photo in the reflection reflects how i feel about this:
there are maps in chandigarh that tell you where things are:
rickshaw walas: