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Published: March 6th 2014
We made the long windy descent to the airport early in the morning... By the time we hit the bottom my ears were really hurting. I'd had a cold for a few days and my ears were definitively feeling the altitude difference. It got me slightly worried about our flights, especially since we had two flights to do that day to get to Varanasi. We stopped halfway for a toilet break and there was a large evil looking monkey sitting near the car. I decided to hold on until the airport. While taylor was in the toilet I got out to try snap a photo of the monkey but he quickly saw that as an invitation to come closer so I jumped back into the car. He then proceeded to jump onto the car next to us and start playing with the drivers side mirror almost snapping it off.
When we arrived at Bagdogra airport, we had breakfast while we waited to check in. When checking opened, I went to put my bag through a. X-ray machine and was extremely nervous when they pulled me aside and asked me to open my bag! I bought my protein powder
all packed into little individual sandwich bags to India,so thought maybe they were going to question me about that! Instead it turned out that my mosquito repellant was a dangerous article (deodorants etc ok but mosquito repellant not). I pouted and was sad as I had two cans equalling almost $30! The guy checking my bag must have fallen for the pout as he told me that he would let it through, before putting security tape around the lid. He then told me to remove before any more flights so that he didn't get in any trouble for letting it through! Lol
Once checked in, we casually made our way to the departure lounge. It was really unclear where we should be boarding and what time, and alot of flights had been delayed that morning due to the fog. We saw a flight boarding for Jet Airways and asked someone. They told us that it was the Delhi Flight... We sat down, plugged Taylors phone into the wall and she went off to the toilet... I had been sitting there maybe 5-10 minutes and I heard a 'last call for Kolkata' over the loud speaker....
I suddenly panicked wondering if we were meant to be boarding. I could see that there was a Jet Airways plane on the tarmac and all the 'Delhi' passengers had finished boarding. I couldnt really move, as Taylor was still in the toilet and I had all our luggage and her phone in the wall socket etc. I quickly asked a couple sitting nearby who said "No that is the Jet Airways plane to Kolkata boarding". I went into complete panic mode, furiously gathering up Taylors phone and stuffing it in my open bag and grabbing all our stuff... I ran for the gate and was hysterically saying to them "Is that Kolkata Jet Airways" and they are saying "Yes you must board now' and I was almost screaming "I can't, my friend is still in the toilet". I then heard our names being called over the loud speaker and then I completely lost it... lol I was like "please wait, I need to find my friend" and I'm thinking to myself "Why is she STILL in the toilet?!"
I told them to please wait and I bolted for the toilets, I ran in screaming at Taylor
like a mad woman.... "WE NEED TO GO NOW" and there she is, calmly plaiting her hair in the mirror! She looks at me like I am a monster and says "Whats wrong??" and I was possessed "OUR PLANE IS LEAVING NOW" and she still calmly looks at me and says "No that was the Delhi plane" and I am beside myself "NO..... its our plane, they are calling our names on the loudspeaker". At that moment, she kicks into panic gear and starts bolting towards me. I threw her bags at her and we ran for the gate. When we got there, they were all like "you have to run" so there we are, bolting across the tarmac towards the plane... and when we get on, yes we are THOSE annoying people that the whole plane is sitting there waiting for! Such a close call!
Our flight to Kolkata was pretty uneventful apart from some extreme pain in my easy at descent, but I had dosed up on antihistamines and painkillers so it was bearable. I wasn't looking forward to another descent though.we had a quick food stop in Kolkata before boarding our plane for Varanasi.
Walking to the plane in Kolkata, I was dismayed to see we were boarding a small-ish twin propellor plane (My worst nightmare)... Once on the plane to Varanasi, we settled in for the flight. We have had an amusing time everywhere we go, where we ask for something on the menu and the answer is ALWAYS "we no have". We end up asking for 3-4 things before giving up and saying "Ok WHAT DO YOU HAVE?" lol Once again, no disappointment.... I asked for something to eat and it was the standard "we no have".... "ok what do you have" before settling on the corn chips and salsa (named Nachos on the menu).
A little while later, after admiring the view of the sunny day outside, the pilot announced we were about to descend and asked the air hostesses to take their seats. He promptly plunged us into some dark, thick clouds that werent there a minute ago.... We then circled and circled and circled in the cloud for the next half hour. I was absolutely TERRIFIED.... and panicked even more when I saw Taylor get bored and take out her phone to play
with (Not in Airplane Mode). I was beside myself... LOL. Taylor's Dad is a Pilot so she has no worries, but I was almost in tears as our landing took over half an hour of bumps, dark clouds and no end is sight. I seriously thought I would not see my 40th Birthday the following day. When the airport came in sight I was sooooo grateful! lol
We made our way to find a taxi and met up with an Aussie couple, Richard and Jill who just happened to be staying at the same guesthouse ... seriously what are the chances?! We shared a taxi with them to the guesthouse. Varanasi is based around the River Ganges and the Lonely Planet describes it the best "Brace Yourself. You're about to enter one of the most blindingly colorful, unrelentingly chaotic and unapologetically indiscreet places on earth. Varanasi takes no prisoners. But if you're ready for it, this may just turn out to be your favorite stop of all."
Varanasi has been known as Kashi (city of life) and Benares and is one of the worlds oldest continually inhabited cities. It is regarded as one of
Hinduism's seven holy cites. Pilgrims come here to the ghats of the River Ganges to wash away a lifetime of their sins in the sacred waters and also to cremate their loved ones. It is a auspicious place to die. Dying here is said to offer 'moksha' - liberation from the cycle of life and death. Varanasi is said to be the beating heart of the Hindu Universe. The most intimate rituals of life and death take place in public and as the Lonely Planets says 'its a magical place, but not for the faint hearted .. the sights, sounds and smells in and around the ghats ... can be overwhelming'
The taxi dropped us off at the main road and a guy met the taxi to then show us how to get to our guesthouse. It had only stopped raining a short time before so the alleyways leading to the guesthouse were full of mud ... and unprepared I was in my thongs (flip flops for those thinking I am talking a pair of underwear and not shoes). I was later to discover, once it had dried, that the "mud" I was walking through was in
fact a nice mix of dirt, human urine and faeces from dogs, goats, cows and humans! Charming! Taylor, Jill and Richard all had hiking boots on so they were ok! It was dark, crowded, wet, smelly and windy... and I was carrying 16kg on my back and 7 kg on my front. I was one unhappy camper by the time we made it to the guesthouse 10 minutes later! lol
When we arrived at the Guesthouse, Shiva, our host, appeared to be unorganised and not expecting us. Jill and Richard showed him their reservation and were shown to what was meant to be our room. When I showed him my reservation, he seemed a little uneasy (given he had just given someone our room we booked) and so showed us to another room which was not what I had paid for.... It was the straw that broke the camels back so to speak, and I spat it. I was extremely rude to him about it and was told that it was the only room but we could either A) swap with Jill and Richard or B) move the next day... I reluctantly agreed to take another room
the next day but I was really disappointed, especially when I saw their room a little while later and it was extremely cute and just what I wanted! They offered to swap but I didn't want to put them out so sucked it up... I was still in a bad mood however when we met them on the rooftop for dinner. I was feeling extremely homesick at this point, maybe a lot due to it being my birthday the next day. I quickly ate my dinner then left the table saying I wasn't feeling so well and was going to bed.
I went downstairs to the room and started crying. I was so homesick and felt like shit. I cried myself to sleep and Taylor was kind enough to tuck me in when she came to bed later on. The next morning I woke up bright and early... It was my birthday! Taylor was still sleeping so I let her be, and walked up to the rooftop to have a Chai and wait for her to rise. Shiva was up there and was being extremely nice to me but I was still a little dirty with him
about the rooms. It helped to brighten my mood when he served me a big steaming mug of Masala Chai Tea.... and it was the best I had tasted so far... I drank my Chai while speaking to my parents on the phone and watching the monkeys on the adjoining rooftops play around...
Taylor made her way up a short time later and after wishing me a big happy birthday we decided to head out and explore.. We spoke to Shiva about changing rooms and he showed us a room similar to Jill and Richards. It wasn't as good but a close second so we decided to move there and think about moving into Jill and Richards the next day when they left. The bathroom was disgusting covered in mould but I didn't care at that point.
We wound our way through the smelly alleyway a short distance to the River Ganges. The River Ganges is lined with Ghats for miles (Ghats being the stairs that lead down to the water) and it was a sight to be seen. There were people bathing in the water, washing clothes and buffalos next to each other,
there were boats everywhere, touts trying to sell boat rides, kids trying to sell souviniers and washing hanging everywhere... beautiful saris, next to bed sheets, next to tourists clothes... and Ghats as far as the eye could see.... As you walk along the Ghats are named. We were staying at Munshi Ghat.
After taking it all in, we decided to head south down the river to Assi Ghat and find a restaurant for breakfast. We walked along and halfway we met a young American Artist named David. We invited him to brunch and wound up at Open Hand Cafe near Assi Ghat. It was a great little cafe that served awesome coffee and I quickly became addicted to their Coffisch which was like a cappucino but had some honey and Indian spices added... sooooo good. We hung around the cafe for a few hours, blogging, catching up on internet and chatting. David left after awhile and we continued to chill at the Cafe. The cafe also sold scarves and others bits n bobs, and I cleaned up buying a stack of their scarves! When I ordered a yummy shake, Taylor arranged for it to come out on
a plate with Happy Birthday written on the plate! Very sweet (even though it looked like it said Floppy not Happy and they spelt Birthday wrong!) lol
We eventually left the Cafe (Taylor paid for my breakfast as a birthday present which was super sweet of her) and wandered back along the Ghats taking photos. We made our way into the alley ways and stumbled on a small stall which Taylor happened to spot a large jar of Nutella. I was soooo excited that I bought it on the spot for 220rp. We went back to the room to chill out and eat nutella from the jar. Heaven!
We were meeting Richard and Jill for dinner and also Brandon, the guy I had met on Lonely Planet. We had arranged to go to Brown Bread Bakery (try saying that out aloud a couple of times) and so I had a shower and decided to blow dry my hair... it was important to look nice on my 40th after all.... about 5 minutes into blow drying my hair the power went out... it then went back on but as soon as I started up my
hairdryer a 2nd time, it went out again! My hairdryer was blowing the electricity in the guesthouse! I was so upset! lol All I wanted was nice hair for my birthday dinner. I reluctantly tied it back and we met everyone to head to dinner.
We had dinner sitting on cushions on the floor and there was live music each night at the Bakery, so we settled in to eat dinner and listen to the music. Unfortunately we didnt realise that people turn up specifically to watch the live music and while we were attempting to be social and chat (not very loudly mind you) we had 3 French women lay into us telling us to stop talking. We were a little disappointed since we were there to have dinner and socialise.
At the end of the music set, the Musicians came around trying to sell a CD. Richard told them to ask the French ladies since they were really into the music (tongue in cheek of course) and that was it, the French ladies overhearing him went psycho! lol Richard and Jill ended up having words with the French ladies while we sat
there laughing. The French ladies were extremely rude but left soon after. Richard and I were the only ones to have dessert and then we left to walk back to the guesthouse in the dark. I was in bed asleep by about 10pm! It was a lovely night and I was extremely grateful to be surrounded by new friends for the day.
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Rene
non-member comment
Happy Birthday !!!!
Am really enjoying this adventure. And Happy 40th :-)