Dead body!!!

We're in Rishikesh and treated as veritable superstars by various Indian tourists who have stopped us to have their photographs taken with us. When I asked if the most recent photographer was on holiday she whispered in my ear "dead body". "Sorry?" I queried.. "DEAD BODY!" She yelled at me with a smile like I was deaf and dumb. Ah, so not on holiday, but in Rishikesh to cremate Grannie.
It's a nice chilled out place, and we have a wonderful room overlooking the Ganges. We didn't dare touch the waters of 'the Ganga' in Varanasi, so now we're higher up we've dipped our feet in to hopefully benefit from its holy wetness. Planning some white water rafting along it tomorrow morning (is that a bit unholy?) Ben, of course , has to be near a tv for the world cup first England game on the 10th so only after a taste of soccer will we head to he hills for some more trekking to the Kuari Pass and Valley of the Flowers in the Garwhal hills/Himalaya of Uttaranchal.
We were disappointed that Darjeeling did not give us a single view of the Himalaya. It was pretty much solid (haar like) mist and rain for the total 10 days we were there. So we cut our five day teahouse trek to four days, cancelled our trip to Sikkim, and got the first plane outta there. Although Darjeeling wasn't so good to us, we were well looked after by our friend Loben Sherpa (here's a plug for his business!) and his family.
Prior to this, we were in Varanasi, supposedly a 'holy city'. We met some great characters such as Dadu the champion ghat cricketer and Bikki the 13 year old linguist. And we really enjoyed just spending time along the Ganges people watching. People burn their dead, wash themselves, pour raw sewage in and have swimming lessons all in the same expanse of the river. However, I really couldn't bare the kids with limbs about to drop off begging, or more to see an elderly man who had been dumped at the train station to die. I gave him some water, but I fear that I only helped to prolonged the suffering... We also found a great silk manufacturer... anyone interested in some silk bed linen or scarves? I might quit research and go into sales!
Agra was HOT. Oh yeh and the Taj Mahal was pretty speccie. We only stayed two nights there.
Ben has already mentioned our time in Kashmir, but I just wanted to make the comment that I really feel for the Kashmiri people. We found them, as a group, to be a gracious and hospitable who just want to live peacefully in their homeland. Even a shikara-wallah lamented the time the British left. However, the India/Pakistan clash and corrupt government leave it ripped to shreds. If you look at our photographs of the houseboat on Dal Lake and our walks in the Vale of Kashmir you will see or yourselves what a glorious place it could be to visit. However, we got there by 'accident' (green daftness in actual fact) and were happy to leave the heavy military presence.
From Rishikesh it's back to Delhi for some completely unnecessary shopping.
Next stop... Hong Kong.
Namaste