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Published: December 17th 2014
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When the lassi arrived it looked like a cocktail. Well Ajay (along with LP) had said that Blue Lassi was the best lassi in the whole of India. At that moment the long 24 hour train journey to Varanasi definitely seemed worth it. A steady stream of dead bodies being carried down the passageway outside the shop on bamboo stretchers wrapped in bright cloth just emphasised where we were, the most auspicious place for any Hindu to die.
It certainly is all here in Varanasi. The ghats ('steps') stretch all the way up the side of the Ganges from the confluence with the Assi river. We spent the morning people watching and wandering up the river's edge. There were locals bathing, praying, washing, small boys skilfully flying square paper kites and, of course, the funeral pyres.
The 'pyre' process is in fact very pragmatic. We asked one guide why there is no sign of grief. "That is done at home", was the reply. It is only the men in the family who burnt the body. They wash the body in the Ganges first. They buy the wood from the fifteen or so families who run
the two 'burning' ghats. The wood is weighed according to the body weight. The oldest son then buys the fire from where a flame burns 24 hours a day. It takes around 3 hours for pyre to turn to ash. There is no sign of emotions. At this point the soul has left the body. At the end what is left is chucked in the Ganges. The pelvis has not burnt and there must be stacks at the bottom of the river. We saw some men panning the ash by the river side for jewellery left from the bodies.
At the end of the walk having got lost in back alleys we found the Post Office as we wanted to send some cards. This gave us one of those great Indian moments. We had 18 cards which each needed 25 rupee (25p) worth of stamps. The largest stamp they had was 1 rupee so each card needed 25 stamps. We sat behind the serving counter gluing them on before a man franked them all with gusto. It will be interesting to see if any of them get through.
Varanasi was our first Zostel. This
The Manikarnika 'burning' ghat
This is where 200 out of towners are cremated every day. locals use the Harishchandra ghat up river. is a new company set up up by 7 guys in Calcutta. They are opening up backpacker hostels throughout India. Currently there are eight and there are plans for another fourteen. Ajay was responsible for opening up the Varanasi hostel and was a fantastic host. He was actually from Kalpa in the Kinnaur valley in Himachal Pradesh. He was the only son of a family that had 400 apple trees in the valley. He had got a good education and was working for Zostel opening up new hostels. He wanted to travel to Europe and once he took over the orchard dreamt of opening his own school back in Kalpa.
We had a very acceptable double room with ensuite for 1000 rupees a night. The hostel had a open relaxation area and up stairs a kitchen we could use. So on both evening I bought ingredients from street stalls and then cooked them under the watchful eye of 'Opi' the resident chef. He was a great character and we had fun watching him work and learning from him.
Ajay and the team were also fantastic when I succumb to Delhi Belly. (I discovered it
was easy to throw up in a street in India as there are usually open drains on both sides.) They gave me a spare room to lie down in and boiled water for me to sup before we had to leave to catch the train to Delhi. We look forward to staying in other Zostels on our trip.
One evening Zostel put on a session of classical Indian music and dance. There was a drummer and the second player started with a hand pumped harmonium before moving to a sitar. To start there was also a female dancer whose shin bells shimmered in time as she stamped her feet and whirled on the spot. The players watched each other confidently and kept so tight.
We did the city walk with Yann from Brittany, an experienced traveller and Koen from the Netherlands. Yann's Mother apparently spoke and wrote Breton. It was a sign of the times that Yann was fluent in English and Spanish and spoke no Breton.
One evening we watch the 'ganga aarti' ceremony as we had done in Rishikesh and Haridwar. We took a boat like many other tourists
Dashashwamedh Ghat preparing for 'ganga aarti'
Note the man in the bottom left has just made his chappati dough with water from the holy if toxic river Ganges to see it from the river. It was fun to row on the Ganges and our boatman was a knowledgable guide. The five performing the ceremony on individual raised platforms were students at the local university. The ceremony seemed to lack the spirituality of the ceremonies we had seen previously. One got the impression the focus was on money raising And seemed to be effective.
We left Varanasi as we have arrived on a long train ride. We were looking forward to getting to Delhi to meet Ian and Dan flying in from the UK. The train was due to leave at 6pm and left at midnight. It was due to arrive at 10.30am and arrived at 7.30pm. Ah well, that's India.
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