Just getting to Gaya station is a mission due road closures. We’re subjected to a bumpy not-so-scenic tour of various random Bihar villages. The train station isn’t much of an improvement. As we wait for the delayed train to Varanasi, we witness the following:
We’re sharing our compartment with a chap who’s obviously dying to talk to us because he keeps making eye contact. After a couple of hours, he goes with the usual opening questions. Where you from? Where you going? How long in India? What he’s really interested in though is our relationship. There’s plenty of additional attention here because we’re a mixed race couple, especially because Shejal is of Indian origin. We’ve taken to declaring ourselves married when the questions start, it’s easier that way.
Varanasi is on the banks of the river Ganges. Hindus come here to wash away their sins in the river or cremate relatives. It’s one of the holiest places in India.
We booked a room with views overlooking the Ganges. We arise at 5.30 in the morning to watch the sunrise over the river.
New breakfast experience for me; sweet thalhi consisting of puris, mild curry, syrup, and jalebi. All for about 50p, bargain.
Varanasi’s riverbank is populated by various Ghats (steps leading down to the water). Most are used for bathing, but some are burning ghats, where bodies are cremated in public. Our guesthouse is located near to one, so we uneasily spectate for a while whilst a few cremations take place. An enthusiastic chap pops up and tells us that the pelvis is the slowest bit of the body to burn - nice.
Touts are everywhere in Varanasi trying to flog a boat trip. We choose a boat wallah in a quiet ghat who wasn’t all over us when we walked past. We spend an hour floating down the Ganges watching bathers, couples getting married, dhobi wallahs washing, and cows eating rubbish (Shejal saw one eating a magazine).
In the afternoon/evening, we sit and watch the world go by at Dasawarmedh Ghat. We catch the Ganga aarti (fire and dance ceremony).
This chap was interested in my camera.
Rounding off a great day, Shejal lit a floating candle and placed it in the river.
Varanasi is one of the most interesting places we’ve visited so far.
- Cows roaming the ticket hall
- Vicious dog fight on train tracks
- Angry looking baboon patrolling the platform
- Woman scrambling over tracks to collect bits of coal dropped from a passing freight train.
- Worst of all - a suspected thief being thrown onto the tracks and set upon by a big angry mob. He’s dragged by his hair the length of the platform, all the while being punched and kicked. Really nasty.
We’re sharing our compartment with a chap who’s obviously dying to talk to us because he keeps making eye contact. After a couple of hours, he goes with the usual opening questions. Where you from? Where you going? How long in India? What he’s really interested in though is our relationship. There’s plenty of additional attention here because we’re a mixed race couple, especially because Shejal is of Indian origin. We’ve taken to declaring ourselves married when the questions start, it’s easier that way.
Varanasi is on the banks of the river Ganges. Hindus come here to wash away their sins in the river or cremate relatives. It’s one of the holiest places in India.
We booked a room with views overlooking the Ganges. We arise at 5.30 in the morning to watch the sunrise over the river.
New breakfast experience for me; sweet thalhi consisting of puris, mild curry, syrup, and jalebi. All for about 50p, bargain.
Varanasi’s riverbank is populated by various Ghats (steps leading down to the water). Most are used for bathing, but some are burning ghats, where bodies are cremated in public. Our guesthouse is located near to one, so we uneasily spectate for a while whilst a few cremations take place. An enthusiastic chap pops up and tells us that the pelvis is the slowest bit of the body to burn - nice.
Touts are everywhere in Varanasi trying to flog a boat trip. We choose a boat wallah in a quiet ghat who wasn’t all over us when we walked past. We spend an hour floating down the Ganges watching bathers, couples getting married, dhobi wallahs washing, and cows eating rubbish (Shejal saw one eating a magazine).
In the afternoon/evening, we sit and watch the world go by at Dasawarmedh Ghat. We catch the Ganga aarti (fire and dance ceremony).
This chap was interested in my camera.
Rounding off a great day, Shejal lit a floating candle and placed it in the river.
Varanasi is one of the most interesting places we’ve visited so far.
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