Silk to sunsets - last night in India

Nov 25 - second part

This morning we visited a silk-weaving cooperative and fair trade shop (silk weaving has some dark circles). Varanasi is known as the place for silk-weaving - so much so there is a trade name on Banarasi Saris - it is a big deal, and it is incredible how it is made.

First you start with the design- which is then punched into cardboard cards. 

Then they can make the thread. 

Here the design cards are all strung together and fed into the loom which, then weaves the fabric (silk in this case). 

Another angle. 

Close up. 

An example of a final product. This duvet cover took over 4 months to make and I think it was something like 40000 rupees - it is one of a kind, and it is made with the highest quality silk. Don’t get any ideas, this is not anyone’s Christmas present. 

After lunch a few of us got henna ‘tattoos’ (Mehndi - usually something done to mark a rite of passage or celebration - in our case I think we are celebrating a good time in India). 

My attempt at an arm’s length photo.

Group photo. 

Just after sunset - traffic kept us from getting there in time for the actual sunset. 

And we watched the daily ceremony to celebrate Ganga. It was pretty incredible there are about a dozen ceremonies happening roughly at the same time and are all slightly different. Kind of crazy, but also kind of cool that everyone just goes with it. 

Tomorrow we meet at 4:15am and start our journey for Nepal - which might take about 14 hours... it includes a bus, a train, a bus, the border, and another bus.