India

After leaving Africa we sailed across the Indian Ocean, and stopped for a short time in Mauritius.  Mauritius is a small island off the East coast of Africa.  We were only there for one day, but it is an interesting mix of African and Indian cultures.  After our short stop in Mauritius we sailed on to India, and a few days later docked in Chennai, a city in the Southeast of the country.  While the ship was in Chennai, I went on a trip to Northern India, and visited Delhi, Agra, and Varanasi, three other cities in India.  Agra has the Taj Mahal, which was built by an emperor in the 1400s as a tomb for his wife.  It is a very beautiful building, and I really enjoyed getting to visit it.  We spent a long time walking around the building and the gardens.  We also got to see other historical sites in Agra, including an abandoned city that used to be the capital of the Moghul Empire, and an old fort.

On my trip we also visited a city called Varanasi, which is a very, very old city, and possibly the oldest continually inhabited city in the world.  There have been people living there for over 1 million years, and it is still very alive today.  It is along the banks of the Ganges River, which is a very important river in India, and is considered the most sacred river in the world to Hindus.  Varanasi is also called Banaras, and is an extremely important city to Hindus, and many make pilgrimages to the city because it is considered such a holy place.  Along the banks of the Ganges are a series of steps that lead down into the river called Ghats.  I got to visit one of the Ghats and see a ceremony that is performed every night along the riverbank, and the next morning I took a boat ride along the river and saw lots of people going about their daily lives and rituals around the river.  Many people believe that the Ganges can wash away all sin, and even though it is a very polluted river, many people still bathe in it, and wash their clothes on the banks.  It was very beautiful going along the river at dawn, and I really enjoyed getting to see the city.

We also visited a place called Sarnath, which is nearby, and is supposed to be the place where the Buddha preached his fist sermon.  It is a very important site for Buddhists, and there are ancient ruins and a pillar to mark the spot that were put there thousands of years ago by an early Buddhist leader called Asoka.

It was really interesting getting to see even a small part of India in the week we where there.  I enjoyed the country very much, and I hope I will get to go back there sometime.