Safely Arrived!

Rest easy, my darlings. Luke is in India!

Landed in Delhi and immediately shuttled over to the seedy neighborhood of Paharganj. Packed with cheap accommodation and shady characters (all of them men), with cowshit, beetlenut juice, and mangy, napping puppies covered in flies lining the street, I wasn't for Paharganj long.

Actually, I've already hit the road! I hopped a train at 1.30 p.m. This being the scheduled departure time, it actually left New Delhi station at 2.50. Onboard the "3 A/C" sleeper car (which means three-tier beds and air conditioning... cheaper than 1st Class and "2 A/C") conditions were fine. I made friends with a couple guys my age: Ali, who works in a call center for Citibank and spends his break time browsing Angelina Jolie's account profile ("No photo, man."). He had a guitar I could fiddle around with for a couple hours. Also Guarav, a university student who proved an excellent conversationalist.

We arrived in Varanasi at 8.00 a.m. Surprisingly, I slept most of the night. Never thought I could come away from a 17 hour train ride feeling so refreshed!

Varanasi is absolutely fascinating. Will be sharing more as soon as I can!