31 December - Varanasi &Delhi

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Varanasi

Well we survived the train to Varanasi, a 12 hour journey that took 16 hours! We were in a partition that had 3 beds down one wall, 3 the opposite wall and 2 more across the other side of the very skinny carriage way. We did not board until midnight, and everyone was asleep, so we slipped into our bottom bunks and by 8am all the others had disembarked, so we had the entire cubby hole to ourselves for another 8 hours. How can a train be 4 hours late? One trip to the hole in the train floor (called a toilet) ensured there was not another visit. The smell was so horrid it made me retch. There was plenty to look out the windows at, villages, slums, and fields dotted with village men squatted in the fields doing their morning business on their way to work carrying their tins of food for lunch.

Varanasi is a holy place, there are over 50 ghats which line the Ganges River on one side and a sandbar on the other, looking down at the ghats are guest houses. The ghats are used for different purposes, the one we were in front of was a bathing ghat, locals would strip down to their undies (and sometimes less), lather themselves up with soap and then jump into the river and shake it off. Woman would scrub the clothes and lay it out to dry on rails around the walkways or lying over boats. Another ghat they cremated bodies, and another they have religious ceremonies….they were the 3 we visited. There are heaps of boats along the ghats wanting to take you for a ride down the Ganges to look at all the ghats or across to the large sand bar on the other side. Behind the guest houses are many narrow lanes lined with temples, shops and houses. You cannot get traffic through these lanes, although the bloody cows always managed to squeeze their way through.

Anyway we arrived at Varanasi railway station, picked up an auto rickshaw and jostled through the traffic to the area where no traffic was allowed past, where we saw a machine gun post setup behind stacked sand bags. It was then on foot through narrow lanes full of food stalls, flaming woks, bangle shops, sari, silk and shawl shops, houses, temples, through to the hotel. People complain that it is so hard to find your hotel amongst the labyrinth of lanes and I don’t think we would have found ours either if it had not been for a local tout, they do come in handy sometimes. Happy to take us to the hotel on a whim of a hope that we would feel guilty if we did not thank him by going shopping with him - sorry buddy been here too many weeks for that one! But we gave him a tip and we rapt we found it so easy.

Varanasi is fascinating. We watched them bathe and wash in the dirty brown holy water, we wandered along to watch the nightly religious ceremony at the temple past a few beggars lining the steps, but they did not get up, so no bother to us. A familiar site is men urinating on the walls down the narrow lanes as you walk through and sometimes that’s not all they are doing. So it does smell, in fact it was really smelly. We visited a cremation ghat where there were several fires on different concrete platforms; each had huge stacks of wood, each platform being of a different quality. The wealthier you are the better quality burning wood you can afford. They burn here 24 hours a day. The men would walk the body through the lanes on a stretcher, body covered with cloth and orange flowers to the ghat. We looked from beyond, a closer view being better left to the imagination. They kept asking us to go up into the building behind to look down, but apparently when you leave they expect lots of money. But actually who would want to do that anyway, it’s not respectful. We saw one foreign tourist walk away and he turned to take a photo, then a group of men ran at him one with a brick in his hand ready to throw. They yelled - “It’s our culture, no photo, it’s our culture!”

The caste system in India from what we can gather - there is middle class and upper class, but they are only a small percentage by the looks. There are 4 castes and they also have smaller groups within them, your caste determines your standing in society and can drive your occupation and marriage options. Hindu’s believe if you are a good person in this life, next life you have a chance of being born into a higher caste. Under those 4 castes is what they used to call the “Untouchables” like sweepers and toilet cleaners and I think they also do the cremation burning. I am not sure where the beggars fit in. Quoting the Lonely Planet -they say that there are over 350 million Indians living below the poverty line, 75% living in rural areas.

Our driver pointed to a poor area we drove through in Agra and said “This is where the cleaners live”. Singh is the last name of all the Rajasthan Maharajas (Kings) and you find a lot of captains, doctors, etc with last name Singh. Patel are business people apparently. One person said to us “Beggars will come up, push them away, its just part of the system”.

We did not go in a boat, we watched, walked along the ghats and through the narrow shopping lanes. One lane stretched .5 km and Carl spotted 30 police all with rifles, security because of bombing they have had previous in Varanasi, terrorism attacks in the state and it is the bombing season. Being in the middle of the town and by the ghats, Varanasi smelt pretty bad, you needed a scarf over your mouth.

Food
We found this great Brown Bread Bakery restaurant, it smelt a bit inside and we were accompanied by a mouse for breakfast one morning, but the food was worth it and it supports a school for under privileged children. We went for dinner at Ganga Fuji, our beer was served in a tea pot with tea cups! Beer is never on the menus. Food was tasteless but they are in the Lonely Planet, it is so powerful. Everyone wants to be in the BOOK and when you are you are full 7 days a week with foreign tourists, it does not matter how good your accommodation or restaurant is, it’s not about return customers.

New Years Eve
Well it was New Years Eve. We had not eaten since lunch the day before, we had been on an overnight train and got bugger all sleep, the previous morning we had been up at 5.30, we had been traveling for 18 hours in total, all we wanted food and sleep. Then our Hotel “Alka” were putting on a free New Years Eve celebration, entertainment, dinner and beer”. “How much” we ask. “Free”. YEAH right.

So we could not order any food prior to the start time of 8.00 pm and we could not find any decent restaurants close by, so we waited and watched them string up their coloured lights from the top of the hotel (4 stories). We were suspicious, where is the catch you don’t get anything free in India in fact you have to pay and then pay again, everyone wants your money, you are a walking ATM machine. But 8.00 came and free beer flowed, 9.00 came and the beer flowed......free music and dancing entertained us…….10.00 came and the temperature dropped to like 6….beer flowed……11.00 came and finally they served dinner and the beer stopped. The food was great and we chatted to a yank who joined our table (he was not even staying at the hotel and they let him come in for free!). We were knackered and cold, that was it, lets go to bed. So we did…..I never once thought about midnight……..I never once thought they would put on a show and fireworks. So sadly we lay in bed listening to it. I was so pissed off here we were in India for New Years Eve, how often do you get that opportunity, and at midnight, where are we - in bed nearly asleep!! Then the Indian men put on “You’ve got to dance” 12 times before the manager told them “That’s Enough!” and it went quiet. They love to dance those boys, especially to teenage pop songs which they repeat over and over again.

Never once did they pass around the hat, or the musicians and dancers expect money, it was all completely free - very generous.

Accommodation Review

Hotel Alka it was and we left booking too late we had to take a cheap room NZ$8, very small room, small hard bed, yukky bathroom, cold water, but it was a room. Plus they moved us the next night to a deluxe room which was huge, had a TV, no better bathroom but had hot water, and opened to a shared balcony that had a great view of the ghats and river and only NZ$24. The hotel had a lawn area with tables, and an outside restaurant with views. Definitely recommend this place, they don’t expect tips, or knock on your door every few minutes asking if you want a beer, or anything to enable them to knock on your door again and therefore earn another tip. For budget travelers, I definitely recommend this hotel, ok the bathroom is not great but the location, price, view and hassle free ghat is.

Hotel Alka

I read an article in the paper on the train back to Delhi and it said that Varanasi was hell for tourists. They would get off a tourist bus and over 100 beggars would crowd around them pulling at their clothes, bags and hair. Plus they were being constantly hassled by touts and hawkers so much so that it was a very unpleasant visit. We experienced nothing like this. We saw beggars but they did not even bother getting up, a few men asked us if we wanted a boat ride and we browsed the shops without being annoyed. So I think our Ghat was a good one to stay at - Meer Ghat.

Back to Delhi

Well its on the overnight train again back to Delhi, another 12 hour journey. After getting on the wrong coach twice we end up in a cubical with about 12 others and 8 beds. Some get off at 11pm, each has a bed, 1.00am another station, some wake up, move out and others move in. Supposed to arrive at 07.30 am, we got in at 1.00 pm. Can you believe that. Anyway we filled in the time chatting to everyone, they all speak English. We are in the AC class there is 1, 2 and 3 denoting how many in your cubical. 80%!o(MISSING)f the train is the sleeper class, it has hard benches, no AC, no windows, no blankets, no pillows, but extremely cheap. Our fare was NZ$65 for 2, a sleeper would be NZ$18.

Indian Rail is the second largest employer in the World, with 1.6 million employees, how can their trains run so late? We were stopped at a station for 2 hours, they said we had to wait for an important daily express train to go through - what they only have 1 track into Delhi.

We found a cheap clean hotel in Delhi that I would definitely recommend, it was heaps better than Ashok Palace and in the same part of Karol Bagh, which we liked. The room and bathroom were spotless, sat TV and free internet including in room wi-fi. Now it is new, so I cannot vouch that it will stay clean, but for now it’s very clean. Hotel Singh Sahib - NZ$80.00 per night. Our train was late and their driver waited 5 hours for us at the station. 1.6 million employees and no service to check real time train schedules.

Hotel Singh Sahib

Off to catch the plane to Trivandrum, which is right down the bottom of India, apparently like 30 degrees, but before I go, some top news stories over the last few weeks on India CNN:

Top News Over Last Few Weeks

Well obviously the biggest news item has been the assassination of Pakistani, Benazir Bhutto.

Two Indian couples walked out of a hotel on New Years Eve in Mumbai and about 70 men walking down the street at the time started molestering the women as they walked across the road with their husbands. Only problem is a News camera was nearby and got it on tape. They were visiting from the USA.

French President has brought his girlfriend on a visit to India, they are not happy at all that is totally inappropriate.

Terrorists attacked an Army Base killing 8 soldiers.

Bomb attack on railway tracks killed 5 passengers.

Train derailed killing 5.

Train hit a school bus killing 15 kids.

Poor people selling their kidneys for as little as 25000 rupees (NZ$833).

Girl’s father and grandfather are being sought in relation to trying to drown her in the river after she brought shame on the family for marrying a man of her own choice and then leaving him after 2 weeks. Apparently her entire village has shunned her.

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Photos

View from Hotel
View of the ghats

Sand Bar
Otherside of the Ganges River

Ghat Views
The distance always only visible through mist

Hiding the Beer
In teapot and cups