Varanasi (Benares) life and faith

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From Allahbad on to the unforgettable, mystical and memorable Varanasi for the couple of days before Xmas. (We left for Nepal Xmas morning) Arrived in early afternoon, checked into the hotel and off down the streets. Came across this amazing procession of men in white with saffron and ornage parcels (books?) on their heads all walking down the streets. It was the usual wonderful chaotic colourful melee that is India...and the markets were really buzzing as it got to dusk. We followed the procession, but after an hour or so, as we didn't have a map, returned back. Turns out it was quite fortunate I think, as someone said that their pilgrimage processional march was 57 km in total...If we weren't at the end of it we may have wound up in the next city!! (Seriously, they were probably going down to the Ghats on the Ganges which weren't far away.

Anyway, off we set on Xmas Eve morning at 5:30am for the 'must not miss' sunrise boat trip on the Ganges, watching the people come down to the Ghats for their early morning baths, the laundry washing and the funeral pyres as the sun rose . A very beautiful and very interesting boat trip. The boats are basically mall dinghies, so much more close and personal than the double and triple deck river boats we saw the sunset on last year in the Mekong Delta in Cambodia. (ps colour in some early morning photos of the ghats may be a bit washed out - wrong setting on camera)

Late that afternoon, we went back again for the evening rituals...another not to missed event - the ceremony starts at around 6pm, and goes for a couple of hours...the pictures aren't that terrific, as it was dark and we were to far away for flash, but it was an absolutely amazingly spiritual ceremony, with the 8 holy men going through the rituals...must have used hundreds of marigolds scattered on their podiums overlooking the steps down to the Ganges...you can see the incense in the air...which was ringing with bells, musical chanting and singing..then we could see the hundreds of candle lights way up the river - don't know what they were floating on ...as they were realeased and slowly drifted about a kilometre down the river on the current...twinkling in the dark of the night...and the music and the ceremony reached its peak as they came level with the podium..The bells all rang out...It was a really amazing place and an amazingly beauiful experi8ence especially on Xmas Eve...the cycle of life and death illustrated in such a beautiful way!

Then...back to the hotel to eat...they had decorated the dining room with Xmas decorations which was very nice...and then who should we come across but a young Flemish couple who had driven across town to eat at the hotel restaurant (not fancy by any means) because their Guide Book said that they had the best chocolate cake in Varanasi!!...I was stunned...we'd just finished our meal and were going up to our room, but turned around and asked the waiter if they did indeed have chocolate cake (it certainly wasn't on the menu!) and yes they did, and yes it was darn good! (So a very nice early Xmas present...Indian desserts just don't come up to 3 tier choc and cream cake!)

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