Welcome to Varanasi, do you like Michael Jackson?

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Kat our new friend from Agra also decided to leave for Varanasi on the same day as well did. Unlike other train stations Khajuraho was pretty quiet and empty. We were happy that we were not being bothered by the locals. However that was soon to change as always we had the “where are you from”, “where are you going?” set of questions. If you are backpacking around India it is imperative that you take this sort of thing in good nature and joke about it. Angelo tries to wind up the locals and tells them he was one of the people who “created” Facebook. We hopped on and got going. The train ride was uncomfortable and our compartment was empty. Angelo sweet talked the ticket inspector to let us sleep on the lower bunks.


Upon arrival at Varanasi, as soon as we jumped off onto the platform, all the taxi-wallahs were swarming around us. We chose one guy and asked him to take us to the hotel we had picked out from our guide book. When we were all sat in the rikshaw, he asked us if we liked Michael Jackson to which he received three blank faces. He then proceeded to play the Michael Jackson greatest hits and all three of us could not stop laughing. There we were driving through the busy and polluted streets of Varanasi, one of Indias most holy cities, listening to “beat-it” blasting from our little tuk-tuk .


As much as that was rather cool, the driver took us to like 10 hostels/hotels before we got rather annoyed and told him to take us to where we wanted to go. He did not quite understand why anyone would want a balcony to overlook the Ganges (the main reason travellers venture to Varanasi). We walked for around 1km along the ghats of the Ganges before we arrived at Schindia Guest house, the rate for a room was rather pricey, Rs 750 but it overlooked the Ganges! It was near the burning Ghat we worried which we were a little worried about. This is where they cremate dead bodies 24 hours a day which you can see in full view, before chucking the ashes into the river.

We had no time to have a lie down as we had to go grab our train station tickets out of Varanasi. A good gentleman at the tourist office in Varanasi gave us the low down on Varanasi and how to deal with shop owners/tout/taxi-wallahs. We managed to get some tickets and we went back to our hostel. Later that evening we went out with Kat for dinner at Ganga Fuji Restaurant, which was as good as Lonely Planet suggests (although roof top is out of bounds due to monkeys), with Indian music being played live as you have your dinner!!

The following day we took a sunrise boat trip along the Ganges and watched all the activity along the river front, people bathing, praying and playing in the water, the oh so polluted water. The Hindus believe if they are burned and floated on the Ganges they will not be re-incarnated. You should not take any pictures of the burning Ghats it is disrespectful, however some tourists were snapping away. Unlike our standard UK funerals, which are a dark affair these cremations are a celebration, the body is wrapped in cloth of beautiful colours and carried through the streets on a stretcher type thing to the burning ghat. We were informed that the eldest son/brother did the burning. We noticed there was never any women present during the cremations. We were also told that kids, pregnant women and holy men are not cremated, they just float the bodies on the river!

We decided to visit Sarnath which has many temples and a museum. It was also where Buddha preached his first sermon. After weeks of trying to get into places with an Indian ticket Angelo managed to convince the ticket officer he was Indian. He did later admit the ticket officer probably thought he was a guide to Debbie and Kat. We also visited a Tibetan monastery and were particularly moved by the atrocities described at the temple about what is currently happening in Tibet. The temple was absolutely beautiful. We had lunch and made our way back to Varanasi. That evening we took the sunset boat ride to view the Ganga Aarti ceremony which is performed every night at the main ghat. We hopped off the boat at Assi ghat to grab some dinner at a pizzeria before heading back just in time for the hotel’s 11pm curfew.

On our final day in Varanasi we decided to go visit Ramnagar fort. We negotiated a “speed boat” to take us there for rs 600. This was a long journey, and we were getting burned. We had to walk a bit towards the fort and it was a let-down. It was really run down, with no signs about any of the items on display and some spelt wrong. The items themselves were run down!! It’s definitely the most unusual and awkward museum all three of us had ever been to!

Later that evening we said our goodbyes to Kat and made our way to the train station. The train was three hours late. Mughal Serai (the station) did not have many tourists so we were constantly being bothered by locals (asking us the usual questions or giggling) and some of the kids who sleep on the station kept taunting us. Angelo was a little distraught as these kids were all sniffing glue. It seemed that they were all addicted and some were as young as 6-7. It was a weird feeling as a part of us wanted to give them some money but we also knew that this would be not put to good use!! The train finally made its way in and we jumped on.

Varanasi is a mixed bag; you need to take it for what it is. Unlike other Indian cities it has not sold itself to tourism. All the rituals which are performed are the same as they have ever been. Religious or atheist you have to admire the devotion to religion by the Indians and their belief over Ganges. Despite it being a dirty, polluted and congested city to Angelo this was his favourite place in India. He really did make use of the balcony, people watching on the Ganges. Varanasi is a vibrant city and we recommend that you make a stop there if you got to India. But make sure you grab a balcony over the Ganges!!


Till next time,
Ang and Deb.

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Photos

Debbie during sunrise
Not quite awake at 5.30am

Ang contemplating
I think he was desperate for the loo

More people bathing
This water is septic!!!

Sinking temple
Gets flooded during monsoon.

Floating flower
You are told if you float one of these you get good karma and forgiveness