Dream Trip 2008: September

Great Travel Moment

I was standing on top of the highest hotel that I could see in the old section of Varanasi, a holy city in India. In front of me the chai colored waters of the Ganges snaked along the edge of coast. In the sky above brightly colored kites flew on the late afternoon breeze. Having all this visual distraction I don't know what possessed my to look down but I'm glad I did. There below me crouched in front of a small cooking plate was woman dressed in a brilliant green sari preparing a simple meal of nan and dahl. Beyond the walls of her landing was a slice of Indian life. Clothes and blankets were spread to dry and wooden polls lay like pick up sticks waiting to be assembled into something useful. The staples of existence on that sweaty subcontinent divided by concrete walls, sectioned off for me to absorb.