Mar. 8 - night train to Delhi, India
Wednesday, March 8 :: night train to Delhi, India :: 1km today / 5740km total
Things were very quiet in Varanasi today - a strike had been called to protest the bombings, and almost everything is closed other than the hotels. I've seen similar days like this in Nepal and Pakistan, and I'm not sure how closing businesses helps against terrorism or political adversaries. If I were a terrorist I'd be laughing at the Indians/Nepalese/Pakistanis for holding a strike - its exactly the kind of notoreity and effect that terrorists want, isn't it? Correct me if I'm wrong. There are many, many people living day-to-day in South Asia, and I think they're the ones that are hurt most by silliness like this... the very poor who need people like me walking down the street, buying their oranges, drinks, internet, etc.
Maybe its a good thing that I didn't stray far from my hotel, because I started to feel terrible (again). Each successive sickness that I've had this trip seems to be less and less acute, though - maybe my body is building up faecal coliform/e. coli resistance (not exactly something to boast, or that you want your body to have to do). I could probably drink from the Don River when I get back to Toronto! Yay.
My train was scheduled for 6:45 p.m., and I expected a full-on security presence at the station. I was, after all, taking the exact same scheduled train that was bombed yesterday. I suppose with a name of "Shiv Ganga" (Shiva - the patron God of Varanasi, and "Ganga" - the name for the Ganges) it was an obvious bombing target. But, everything went smoothly, and I rolled into Delhi early the next morning.
Things were very quiet in Varanasi today - a strike had been called to protest the bombings, and almost everything is closed other than the hotels. I've seen similar days like this in Nepal and Pakistan, and I'm not sure how closing businesses helps against terrorism or political adversaries. If I were a terrorist I'd be laughing at the Indians/Nepalese/Pakistanis for holding a strike - its exactly the kind of notoreity and effect that terrorists want, isn't it? Correct me if I'm wrong. There are many, many people living day-to-day in South Asia, and I think they're the ones that are hurt most by silliness like this... the very poor who need people like me walking down the street, buying their oranges, drinks, internet, etc.
Maybe its a good thing that I didn't stray far from my hotel, because I started to feel terrible (again). Each successive sickness that I've had this trip seems to be less and less acute, though - maybe my body is building up faecal coliform/e. coli resistance (not exactly something to boast, or that you want your body to have to do). I could probably drink from the Don River when I get back to Toronto! Yay.
My train was scheduled for 6:45 p.m., and I expected a full-on security presence at the station. I was, after all, taking the exact same scheduled train that was bombed yesterday. I suppose with a name of "Shiv Ganga" (Shiva - the patron God of Varanasi, and "Ganga" - the name for the Ganges) it was an obvious bombing target. But, everything went smoothly, and I rolled into Delhi early the next morning.
posted by Graham Durrant at 1:28 AM
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