Varanasi: Days Forty Two and Three

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We were staying outside Varanasi (thank god) in a relatively green and surburban area which seemed to house the city's Tibetan population, in a hotel that will remain nameless, because after the long list of complaints I've racked up against them they might well choose to sue me.

They had no change whatsoever, which meant if you wanted to buy something you got an IOU. Not trusting in their ability to magically become organised overnight this meant I didn't get anything to drink and was even crabbier than I normally would have been after being subjected to a hyper active three year old wandering the corridors; slow service; portions so tiny we had to demand more, Oliver Twist style; refusal to tell anyone that they didn't actually have the thing you were asking for, just nodding and walking away... I would discount this as being just how India works, if it wasn't for the fact that none of the other places I've been in India showed any evidence of this.

The next day we went to the Ganges for sunrise, which was beautiful. We got out of our tuk tuks and ran the gaunlet of people trying to get us to part with our money, got onto the boat (even then two girls came on board to sell us Diwali candles). The sunrise was beautiful and unlike the Taj Mahal it wasn't quater of an hour earlier than we got there. We sailed past ghats where people come to bathe themselves in the sacred (and unimaginably filthy) river, guesthouses where people come to die besides the Ganges (I can't help wondering if they're sick because they've been swimming in the Ganges) and the cremation grounds where the dead are burnt in the best funeral a Hindu can have. This freaked some people out, as did the dead baby we saw in the water. But babies, the elderly and pregnant women aren't cremated and in Hinduism a body put in the Ganges goes straight to heaven. It seemed skewed to me to get upset about a dead baby whose family at least cared enough to bury it properly, but ignore the starving ones being clutched by beggars on the way down to the bank. Just an observation.

After the Ganges we went back to the hotel for a (predictably slow) breakfast and off again to a silk shop, where Mum will be pleased to know that I did not buy the very beautiful sari I tried on because they fold them with six pleats arouns your waist, which is not great for a 5'5 person with my hips. I did however buy a handwoven silk scarf for $10 (as opposed to $60 for the sari) which actually suits me.

After that, me and Claire (one of the three Mancunian girls) went to explore the area behind the hotel in search of snacks for tommorow's journey. It was beautiful; there was an indescribably lovely Budhist monastry we glimpsed through the painted gates, lots of little Tibetan restaraunts and shops and -strangely for India- room to breathe). Me and a group of people went out there for dinner, had delicious food and fairly disgusting but free butter tea (cold and salty).


(John and Kay: have you tried momos on your travels? They're little noodle dumplings and very tasty)

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Comments

[John and Kay]

Momos are Yum Yum
Kate, Yes indeed we have tackled Tibetan momos in Yigatse. As I recall they were floating in a clear noodley-veg broth, we had an egg, yak and spinach concotion with it....all very tasty. The French family (M and D three kids from 4-about 10, plus Gran and Grandad) sitting at the table next to us ploughed through pizza, chips and Coca Cola...who says travel does not broaden the mind! What hips? Love K and J

[munish]

Varanasi Post
Nice post about your Varanasi visit. http://varanasi-ganges.com