Blogs from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia

Tuesday 3 April 2012. Varanasi is located on the River Ganges, and its waterfront is dominated by the long flights of stone steps or Ghats that we had seen last night at the ceremony. Thousands of pilgrims and residents come to the ghats for their daily ablutions. Known to the devout as Kashi, the Luminous - the City of Light, founded by Shiva, Varanasi is one of the oldest living cities in the world. It has maintained its religous heritage since the 6th century BC in one continuous tradition, and stands at the centre of the Hindu universe. It is the focus of a religious geography that stretches from Kashmir in the Himilayan mountains to India's southern tip at Kanniyakumari, Puri to the east and Dwarka to the west. It is located on a ford on ... read more

09.00 Hours Monday 26 March I said the I was not sure I get Varanasi and that still stands. I am getting used to the place a bit more but it's a tough place to get to the bottom of and I won't this time. The place is a total one off from the smell and the cowshit everywhere to the burning bodies and the bodies just floating along the river. The worshiping side of things is a big affair and a sight to behold. Anyway a few lines won't do it justice so I will leave it at that. An awesome coincidence : I booked my train ticket for the Varanasi - Kolkata leg on the 29th December. I always travel during the night in 3AC. When I met Mira a few days ago it ... read more

20.00 Hours 22 March I take a rick back to Agra Idgah but this time to the railway station. My ticket is confirmed but I do not have my Coach/Berth number so I go to the ticket office and the man goes on the railway internet site and gets my details for me. I am all sorted. Now to wait for the train and wait I did. It’s over an hour late, but I find my berth and start to get sorted for the night. I chain and padlock my ruck to the underside of my seat and get my bedding from the attendant. Next stop is Agra fort and loads of backpackers get on here. All on our way to the Hindi centre of the universe Varanasi. I sleep well and wake up at 6 ... read more

Varanasi, the religious capital of Hinduism, is possibly the oldest living city in the world. We arrive just in time to witness the Ganga Aarti or “Offering Prayer to the Ganges,” a ritual performed every night on the banks of the Ganges River. The Bazaar that lines both sides of the street leading to the Dasaswamedh Ghat where the prayer takes place each night is hopping with activity. Often referred to simply as the evening prayer or dinner prayer, many people come out to participate in the prayer service and thus the merchants are all still open in the hopes of making their last sales of the day to the people attending. Our large bus can’t navigate the narrow streets of the bazaar safely so we are dropped off a ways away and we take rickshaws ... read more

India is a whirlwind of a travel destination; Varanasi could well be the eye of the storm. The city is thought to be one of the oldest continually inhabited communities in the world, a title not lost on the locals. An elderly man asked us rhetorically “How old is your oldest city? Just a few hundred years?” and laughed playfully. Varanasi is of course famed the world over for its burning ghats, a gruesome tourist attraction which isn’t a tourist attraction at all but an ancient custom of massive religious importance. This here is India’s spiritual epicentre but you would be mistaken to conjure images of Zen-like paradise; serene, tranquil. This is India, after all. Pandemonium awaits you in pious Varanasi. But prior to experiencing this tempestuous culture shock first hand, we would have to get ... read more

We extended our stay in Hampi by another 4 nights. We had met so many nice people that we didn't want to leave. We also changed our plans to go to Kanha national park as it was too much effort to get there and very expensive. Hopefully we will see some tigers somewhere else. When we booked our tickets to Varanasi everyone told us that it's winter in the north and that it will be cold. I asked the agent how cold and he told me European temperatures. We did get a bit worried because we don't have any suitable clothes. When I checked the forecast online it said it will be around 25C during the day and between 15 and 17C at night. It seems that anything under 35 is cold for Indians. The locals ... read more