It is 3:30 AM when I am woken with what I thought was a gunshot. This is the beginning of the sunrise ceremony of the festival called Choat Puga. Last night was the start of the festival. From 3:30 AM there were fireworks and drums and people swarming to the Ganges. Lying in bed listening to the various noises and trying to identify what was going on, I thought this could be equivalent to a war zone. My ears rang from the cherry bombs.

Once up and dressed we arrived out in the balcony looking down on this sea of humanity while dodging the sparks from the fireworks and breathing in the heavy smoke created from the offerings, guns and general fires.

Masses of humanity lined the banks of the Ganges River with lines of people going two different directions at once, pushing and shoving to get where they want. Sky lanterns were lit and floated slowly over the people. It is hard to imagine this scene, even if you have seen a million pictures of it. Until you actually see it, you cannot understand it. Taking a boat ride along the river was the best way to see everything.

Afterwards we walked to the golden temple, pass the cremation site, and into an area restricted from pictures, the Golden Temple. You walk through ancient streets where you share the street with cows, pedi-bikes, garbage and cow dung All of this is not bad compared to the constant honking of horns blasting your eardrums until you wish and wish for the quiet of Vermont. No wonder everyone meditates, the temples or mediation areas are the only quiet area.

Later in the afternoon we walked through the main streets into a central square while cars, motor scooters, bikes, rickshaws went in every direction at once. A mother cow, with her calf was not going to let us pass. She pushed past us with a toss of the head reminding us we were visitors, and this was her territory. Crossing the street was a major fete, timing a break on one side of the road while dodging our way to the other side. Something akin to bumper cars. Markets were just as crowded.

We successfully completed another day without injury and look forward to moving on to Agra. Varanasi is one of those places in the world that you cannot comprehend until you visit and then you can only observe as an outsider, knowing you could never belong. The Ganges is polluted and judging from the amount of trash, and sewage going into it, plus the factories that contribute, I wonder if India will be able to save it.