Tigers and cremations

Ok where were we...
Longest train journey so far took us from Mumbai to Jabalpur which fully deserves to receive my 'Worst City visited so far in India' award. Fortunately we were only there for one night. But one night was long enough for me to be bitten to pieces by bed bugs. And I still have the scars. Anyway, I think it was all worth it because the next day we headed for Bandhavgarh National Park for safari o'clock. And that was amazing.
There are lots of National Parks in India but we went for Bandhavgarh because Lonely Planet claimed it was virtually impossible not to spot tigers there. And for once, LP were definitely 100% right. Four tigers spotted in all and they were absolutely beautiful. So stealthy and majestic and lovely and cuddly looking. But still got butterflies when they came strolling right past our jeep! There wasn't much else wildlife in the park, its all geared up for tiger spotting but there were lots of nice birds and deer and all that sort of stuff. Some lovely peacocks too (it would seem I've got over the crippling peacock fear thats been haunting me since I was a tot)
Next was Varanasi. Now it took me a while to fully appreciate and get to like Varanasi but after a few days we both loved it. Thats not to say that its not a dirty smelly city with more hassle than you can shake a hassle stick at  but it was all totally worth it. Sitting by the Ganges, Varanasi is considered by Hindus to be one of the most holy places in India. Thousands of pilgrims flock to the city every year, and it is held that dying in the city releases a person's soul from the cycle of reincarnation. The old city is flanked by ghats where people play cricket, bathe, do their laundry, chase water buffalo, cremate their dead. Everything goes on by the river!
Our guest house was down by the city's largest burning ghat, a 24 hour cremation site where hundreds of bodies are burnt daily. They're carried through the old city's winding alleyways on bamboo stretchers and laid to rest by the holy river. More than once we were nearly knocked down by these! The city was like nothing I've ever seen before, it's really hard to find the words to describe it. We took a couple of lovely boat rides down the Ganges, watched the cremation ceremonies, got hassled by a million different people to buy their silk. Its all go in Varanasi.
We ended up staying longer than planned as I got sick at the end of the first week. Nothing like a bit of Delhi belly to stop you in your tracks. Only lasted a few days but it took it out of me quite badly so we ended up staying just over two weeks in Varanasi. Much longer than anticipated and by the end we were itching to leave. But twas all worth it because we ended up in Nepal. Which is where our adventure is happening right now!