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Published: June 14th 2017
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Geo: 25.282, 82.9563
I shall start this little story before our arrival in actual Varanasi, as it was quite an adventure in itself.... it had been a usual truck driving day, with singing, dancing in the isle, reading and ipodding, stopping off for cold drinks where we could find them as the hot water tank was beginning to become tea temperature again! As the sun began to dip in the sky, we pulled off the side of the road for out bush camp that night.... little did we know it would poss beat the rubbish dump in Turkey to the title of THE worst!
As we pulled off the side of the road, we began to attract followers. Adam had a tyre to change, and cook group had tea to prepare.... after the space of 10 mins, we were surrounded by over 100, poss 200 people. Lorries were stopping on the side of the road to stare and locals from all the surrounding villages came for a gawp too! Some of us sat around one side to guard the tool locker for Adam, whilst others were cook group side, trying to keep back the advancing crowds. By the time we were
eating, it had become dark and stones we thrown at the girls. We asked them to stop, and it did for a while, but then they were bored again as we, the performing monkeys were not doing as they wanted. After half an hour of abuse, the crew decided it was time to move, as it would not be safe to sleep in tents and the truck was an easy target too!
We drove through the dark (I don't envy Adam driving those roads in the pitch black!) until we arrived at the hotel we were supposed to arrive at the following day! By this time it was 11pm and we were all very ready for bed. We set the tents up in the grounds of the hotel, which seemed pretty posh to have us lot on their lawn.... one guest commented that it looked like a refugee camp! Charming! That night I have never sweated so much in my life.... it was truly disgusting in the morning. So after breakfast our immediate port of call was the hotel swimming pool, which we resided in until middayish, looking like prunes as we emerged! Then food time in the hotel
restaurant (dragged out for a few hours as there was ac and a decent place to play cards in) having a meat platter, consisting of lamb, chicken and fish cooked in a variety of Indian spices.... delicious (making me hungry just thinking about it!). Then back to the pool and then back to the bar! A truly lazy day.... wonderful.... well I say lazy.... I did swim 75 lengths....
The only thing I wanted to do whilst here, was go down to the River Ganges at sunrise, to see the Ghats and set a candle afloat for Nan. The group booked through the hotel to go down, which was all a bit of a shambles with drivers etc., but eventually we made it, a little later than planned, but as it was an overcast day, I guess it didn't make all that much difference! The candles were beautiful in their petal laden baskets, and the atmosphere on the river bank is indescribable. People washing their clothes, animals drinking, people with their morning cleansing rituals, children swimming with inners of tyres as their rubber rings and bodies of humans and animals bobbing around them! We saw the ghat where cremations
occur constantly and areas where the bodies of babies, pregnant women, holy people and lepers were cast into the river rapped in shrouds as they were not allowed to be burnt. It truly was a remarkable experience; I just wish the sky had been clearer than it was.
All in all it was an experience, but to be truthfully honest, I am ready to get the hell out of India!
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