Blogs from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, Asia - page 4

Tanta gente passa per Varanasi ogni anno: milioni di pellegrini arrivano per un bagno purificatore nel fiume Gange, migliaia di turisti stranieri vi cercano l'essenza della "vera" India, altri infine vi giungono semplicemente per morire; in queste poche righe cerchero' di spiegare come riuscire semplicemente a sopravviverci. Il primo obiettivo e' naturalmente quello di non ammalarsi: strano a dirsi ma piu' ci ritorno e piu' capisco che non riusciro' mai a farmi gli anticorpi necessari per resistere all'attacco di quelle misteriose creature che popolano i cibi da strada (e non...), in grado di causarmi le piu' bizzarre e fastidiose reazioni corporee; probabilmente anche loro riescono a trarre dei benefici dalle acque del divino Gange, in grado di trasformarli e renderli praticamente invincibili. Non mi permetterei mai pero' di affermare che il fiume stesso possa essere la ... read more

Of course everyone tells you that India is an awakening of all of your senses.Many things are spectacular; some quite confronting. The colours are psychedelic. It is a photographer's dream. The old part of Varanasi is a maze of tiny crowded lanes. Sometimes we must step aside for a cow or two! Little "hole in the wall" shops sell or manufacture all sorts of things. A sunrise boat ride on the Ganges was like my old geography textbooks, only better! Our guide said "Varanasi is a city of learning and burning" with its large university and cremation ghats on the banks of the Holy Ganges. We had a rickshaw ride that was really unbelievable. Poor guys peddle bicycle driven rickshaw carts, with two passengers, for kilometres; weaving in and out of crazy, yes, crazy traffic. Cows, ... read more

After a long day of travelling and waiting around...which seems to be the only thing we've done recently, it was nice to wonder around somewhere generally interesting for a change. My first impression of Varanasi, on my last trip, wasn't a good one. It's like India 2.0! There's more traffic, more salesmen, more scams, more thief’s, more Sadhus...etc the list goes on. Oh and it stinks. Built on the shores of the famous Ganges (Ganga to locals) by Shiva (the god of destruction) it's one of the oldest living cities in the world. People have lived here for thousands of years none stop...and I can't imagine the way of life has changed too much. Everything centres around the Ganges, or more specifically the Ghats (steps) that are situated all along the riverbank. Ghats are used all ... read more

We woke up after a good night’s sleep and went down to meet our guide for our included sunrise boatr ride. The boat trip last night wasn’t included, but was only something like 300 Rupees extra, so just about everyone went. We strolled down to Assi Ghat again and saw the sunrise ritual taking place at Assi Ghat as we climbed into our boat, this time motorized. The main sunrise ritual was being held at Dashashwamedh Ghat, so we headed that way, stopping briefly to observe the sun rise and take photos. It is supposed to be good luck to be on the Ganges when the sun rises. We then arrived at Dashashwamedh Ghat and observed their ritual for a bit before returning to Assi Ghat. After another good breakfast in the hotel, the five of ... read more

Bonsoir à tous ! Nous revoilà avec un paquet de choses à vous raconter ! Nous sommes restés les 10 jours de cours de la méthode de méditation Vipassana à Bodhgaya et avons enfin été libérés. Nous avons pris un bus dans la foulée pour arriver à Varanasi, où nous avons passé quelques jours avant de se préparer à passer la frontière népalaise. Du coup, la méditation pendant 10 jours, c'est fait. Ca n'était franchement pas facile, physiquement et mentalement car une bonne partie du discours ne me plaisait pas. J'ai quand même envie de vous dire à tous d'essayer et de vous faire une opinion de la chose. J'avais parfois l'impression d'être dans une secte (comme la secte dans la série Leftovers, les gens en blanc qui ne peuvent pas parler :) ) et parfois ... read more