India Overland with Swagman Tours, London to Kathmandu.

Khajuraho to Varanasi
We finally arrived at Khajuraho in late afternoon, in time to have a wander around and watch the sun slowly set over the temple complex. We camped in the carpark which gave us access to toilets, a bit of a novelty in these parts. These ancient site have a very strange feel at night, not scary but you can almost feel the presence of the past. For a western culture these temples are quite confronting. We think of ourselves as liberal minded and open to sexual freedom but I have never seen depiction like these on any buildings in the west. I can imaging the outcry if any one tried to put these carvings on a public building in UK or USA. These were places of worship and depiction of the sexual act was celebrated as part of life, not the " look at these and you will go blind" warnings preached from our pulpits. We spent a uneventful night and most were up early to have a second look at the temples and take a few pictures for the album.	Temples of Khajuraho
Pornographic Carvings.
Some tourist actually climbed up the sides of the building to get a closer shot of the naughty bits. The local Indians seemed not to take any notice of the pornographic images, by stark contrast the westerners were fasinated. I heard one American women commenting on how disgusting it was, "It should not be allowed", maybe she would like the temples destroyed so christians are not corrupted. We had a fair way to go today so we set off heading in the direction of Varanasi (formally Benares). The country is very dry and the further east we travel the drier it is getting, Bihar State is in the grip of drought and food is in short supply so we will have to carry more just in case. We travel via Maihar, Rewa, Mirzapur, Chunar and cross the Ganges River near Ramnagar before entering the city of Varanasi. This is the holy city situated on the banks of the Ganges River. For Hindus this is the place to die, be cremated and have your ashes scattered in the river. Many people come here and wait to die, for the poor just to have your body thrown into the river is a blessing. We squeeze our way through the crowded streets heading for the Rest House.	Scenes from Karma Sutra
We had arrived mid afternoon and most passengers headed of into town to do the sights. Fred & I found a small food stall just outside the gate and tucked into a plate of fried potatoes and hot Chapaties. We were all booked in to a small resturant run by a guy from Assam who could put on a really good Indian meal. Geoff organised a boat trip up the river for daybreak so everyone could watch the morning ritual of washing and funeral pyers. The evening meal went well all washed down with lashings of local beer. The waiter Gopal was keen to do anything he could for us and wanted to help us the next day if we needed him, I arranged for him to help us find someone to repair our steering. Just before daybreak we set off for the river and our boat ride along the Ganges, past the famous burning ghats. The river does not look clean and after spotting a few human body parts floating past it is hard to understand why the locals flock he to wash in it, I was terrified of getting slashed with it. At the burning ghats large piles of sandlewood are piled up and a body is placed on top, before a family member usually the eldest son lights the fire to send their parent to the next life.	Washing Clothes
Early morning bathing	Body floating past
Behind the ghats are streets and allyways full of temples and boarding houses to cater to the Hindu's waiting for their day at the ghats. It does seem morbid to us but this is best placefor a Hindu to die and as they belive in reincarnation it is just a step in the circle of life. Once back at the hotel we set off with Gopal to get the steering checked and repaired. He took us to a small workshop who removed the tie rod, did a bit of straightening then took it away to have it crack tested. The testing was a little primative, just a florescent liquid under ultra violet light but it was the best we were going to get. Back at the workshop a vendor was trying to sell us a foul looking liquid that was supposed to give you a Viagra like erection. It consisted of boiled up lizards, smelt horried and looked like poison. He had several sales to the locals but we gave it a miss. The repair were done and it was time to go back for a late lunch. Over a meal I read the paper in which was an article about a skrike due the next day which was supposed to close all roads to traffic. It was a student strike and claimed they would bring the state to a standstill by halting all vehicles.	The bathing Ghats
I was not sure what to read into this article, was it just wishful thinking or could they really bring the traffic to a halt? After asking around the local advise was not to travel on the roads as things could get nasty. The crew agreed we should stay in Varanasi and not take any chances. When we told the passengers we had a near riot on our hands. They were not impressed by another days delay, many had flights booked from Kathmandu and being so close did not want to waste any more time. So strong was the feeling we finally gave in and agreed to set of in the morning for Raxual. I had mixed feelings about the result, it may all turn out to be nothing but what if we were wrong? We dined at our little resturant again and Gopal convinced us to take him with us to Kathmandu where he could help getting buses turned around for the journey home. Morning arrived Gopal was there with family to see him off, this could be his big chance, not many Indians get to spend several weeks working for westerners, this may lead to real money and a ticket out of poverty. At 7.00am we headed out of the city westbound towards Patna.	Gopal (front - right)
The trip continued