Blogs from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia - page 13

He decided to spend the Hindu festival of Dussehara in Varanasi. Dussehara is the festival of Victory of Good over Evil. Shri Ram, the 7th incarnation of Vishnu, killed the great demon Ravana who had abducted Ram's wife Sita to his kingdom of Lanka aka 'Sri Lanka'. The war against Ravana lasted for ten days. The entire narrative can be read in the epic Ramayana, a Hindu scripture of immense significance. Varanasi was one of Paul's favourite places. He looked up some old friends. Kahianya, a Varanasi boat wallah, invited him to come that night across the river to the Maharaja Fort. About ten local babas had booked the boat for a month of such nights, with one chapter of the Ramayana being enacted at a time, in the open and with great style. That particular ... read more

man kann es weder in bildern noch in worten beschreiben... es ist so unglaublich...... read more

maybe not the best place to start a journey like this kann im moment keine fotos uploaden werd es anderen internet cafes versuchen... ... read more

Paul had been to Varanasi before, several times in fact, and fancied he knew his way around. He spent the day catching up with past local acquaintances and feeling good about being able to roll up to people like Rama Guru on the ghats and shake his hand and imagine he got some recognition back. It was time to eat. He knew exactly where to go: the little dharba with a great Malai Kofta at a very reasonable price. He and Leila had eaten there many times during a fabulous week in Varanasi spent walking around, playing cards, flying kites, smoking joints, and generally having a really nice time despite her limited English and his inadequate French. So, single minded, he approached the dharba and was waved in to go straight upstairs. But something seemed different. ... read more

Arrived in Varanasi a couple of days ago as a big festival was in full swing, the city is made up of an old town with narrow winding streets that are impossible to navigate, larger and very congested main roads and the reason everyone comes, the ghats. These are a series of big stone steps that run down to the river Ganges along the West bank for a couple of miles. They are used for a range of activities including practival things like washing bodies and clothes, fishing, launching boats etc as well as a pleasure promenade where people stroll, sit and fly kites due to the lack of traffic and relative peace. This is only half the story as the Ganges is the most holy river to Hindus so all manner of offerings are made ... read more

Partimos de la estación de Khajuraho, muy moderna y en muy buen estado. El tren supero nuestras expectativas, nos dieron sabanas, frazadas y almohadas, tenia aire acondicionado. Después de viajar toda la noche llegamos a la ciudad que tantos turistas nos tiraron abajo por la mugre, el olor a “mierda”, el caos y otros condimentos. A pesar de no ser de lo mas lindo que hemos visto, no nos pareció tan grabe. El atractivo de este lugar, aunque Ud. no lo crea!! Es ver como la gente quema a sus familiares muertos a la orilla del río. Tomamos un tour de una hora en barco por el río, desde allí se ven las distintas Ghats donde se creman a los cuerpos, también vimos la ceremonia que se hace todos los días a las 6:30pm, la ceremonia ... read more

Vanasi er en hektisk by med mange hellige koer og mennesker. Varanasi ligger ned til den hellige flod Ganges eller moder Ganga. Der er religoese festligheder hver aften.... read more

ChinaMark and Padraic hopped off the bus in Somewhere, Punjab. On the way down from McCleod, they had been debating whether to go to Amritsar or Varanasi. Seeing as ChinaMark had only one month in-country before heading off to Thailand, they decided to go to Varanasi. In addition, there was a group of very attractive Israeli females headed that way. The only problem is that Varanasi is quite far from Somewhere, Punjab. The Israelis had informed their new acquaintances that they had already booked train tickets. Padraic and ChinaMark went up to the ticket booth, seeking sleeper berths. “No sleeper.” (After consultations) “Can we get seats?” The usually-humorless man showed a hint of a smile, and gave the tickets to the relieved American duo. The seats on the train were uncomfortable, but there was plenty of ... read more

Having caught the train from NJP with Marc at 11pm, we arrived at Mughal Sarai the following afternoon on the Brahmputra Mail Train. I really enjoy sleeping on Indian trains, it's a completely different experience from anything you would experience in the UK, though as the night turned into day it got a little boring waiting for the remaining nine hours to pass. I took a few minutes in the middle of the day to stand at an open door and watch the train pass at speed through the sunny Indian plains which felt amazing. Great North Eastern Railways won't let you do that on the way from London to Darlington you see. At the station we were met by a barrage of auto-rickshaw drivers the minute we stepped off the train. Eventually we managed to ... read more