Sunrise on the Ganges River

On the first day of the new year, we set out for the nearby city of Varanasi, which is over 4.000 years old. Regarded as a holy city by Buddhists and Jains, and as the holiest place in the world by Hindus, It is one of the oldest continuosly inhabited cities in the world. Siddhārtha Gautama (Buddha) gave his first sermon to his disciples here in Varanasi making it the city where Buddhism was founded.We had a day full of adventures and experiences... Here are some highlights...

5 am, getting on the bus headed to the city

Boarding the boat and setting off on the Ganges

View from the boat as we pull away from the shore

A prayer candle that I sent off floating on the river

Carli and I

Bathing in the Holy river (no, not me...)

The sun finally broke through the clouds as we were sipping Chai on our boat

more of the city from the boat as we head up the river

goat!

The gang

Ryan, Carli and I

Breakfast from a street vendor... I had sweet Lassi (buffalo yogurt)

The Lassi vendor

More Chai

Blessed! (thats what the red spot means)

Anna and I

peering out through the gates of a museum we toured

"fierce"

Inside the walls of the museum

The guard that Alex tried to bribe to let us go into the living quarters

Blessed by the priest at one of the oldest temples in Varanasi

The priest  

Back on the boat

Bull!

Streets of Varanasi

the guard telling me to not take a photo. Oops.

The best sweet shop (bakery) in Varanasi

Monkey!

more monkeys!

Arun's silk shop

The streets at night.

Well thats enough for now, I hope to update some more soon. Love you all