Brinkmoeller Fails Secret Test

Thursday, February 15. If you've stumbled across this so-called "Travel Blog" hoping to pick up helpful, money-saving travel tips, you've come to the wrong place. This is just my way of keeping in touch with family and friends while I'm away. Most of those family members and friends know what to expect here. But sometimes people wander in hoping to learn something. I'm the wrong guy for that.

For example, today I arrived in Varanasi, India, a city many claim as their favorite in this entire country. Google it. There's nothing I can add to all the wonderful information and photos you'll find online about Varanasi. Now that I think of it, there is something I can add - about the street sounds.

Traffic all over India is wildly chaotic, sometimes frightening. Adding to the chaos are cows considered sacred enough to be allowed to wander, usually unharmed, in the traffic. The Best Marigold Hotel Whatever Whatever movie has some scenes that accurately show what traffic is like here. But it's the traffic sounds I find fascinating. It's not the loudness, although it is plenty loud. For me, it's the mix of sounds. Exhaust sounds of motorbikes, motorcycles, small and large cars, trucks and buses. On top of that base coat of engine-related sound is layered the sound of horns. From plaintive bleats out of a horn on a tiny motorbike to sudden almost siren-sound blasts from busses and trucks. The horn sounds aren't sprinkled on the base coat; they're slathered over it. There are some YouTube videos that show traffic in India. That's what you search - India traffic. What you'll see is so amazing and unfamiliar you may miss really "hearing" the sounds of the traffic you're seeing. Don't. I love it. But if you're someone who's put off by loud noise, particularly sudden loud noises, traveling by car or bus in India would be stressful. There. You may have learned something here. Won't happen again.

Yesterday I asked two questions in my blog expecting the smartest guy I know, Bill Brinkmoeller, to fire back both answers. Nothing. It was a secret test. He failed.

This evening I intended to visit the ghats along the Ganges. Ghats are a series of steps that lead down and into sacred water - in this case the Ganges River. As I hope you can see from a photo below, it's raining. Hoping for a morning boat ride - floating past those ghats. Weather permitting. For now, I return to my Stephen King book.