Swimming in the Ganges

In the Ganges

Leaving Ganpati Guest House a little after 6pm, Luis and I set out to absolve ourselves of all sin by immersing ourselves in the chai-coloured waters of the great Ganga along with our newly found Chilean friend Pedro, being the designated photo taker and lifeguard should we be pulled in to the current…

The place we chose was stinking, it seemed to be the place where the cows liked to drink their fill of the stuff which meant that the entry point was about an inch deep in slooshey cow dung; though having seen an elderly gent happily bathing (and a number of local kids realising a couple of goras were about to go for a swim) there was going to be no turning back…

The water was warm, (there was something brown and looking quite fresh floating

Latter Day Saints

near one of the boats) and if truth be told the water was filthy with lots of detritus floating about, it really was unappealing. Once use to being stood in the water, Luis and I counted to three and under we went, thinking at any time we’d be hit by a headless corpse with eels…. Staying under for a good few seconds, trying not to come up first though to be honest we pretty much shot up at the same time, both of us desperately trying not to take any droplets of water into our mouths!

And that was it, salvation – a light beamed down from the sky upon us (ala Blues Brothers) and a huge crack of thunder erupted – I blame all of this entirely on Luis and his previous sins! I feel much better, if you look closely at the photos you can see my halo beginning to shine, though my throat seems a little sore!