Varanasi, or Benares to the Indians, is a pretty special place. Sure its dirty & theres alot of people after your money, just like other Indian cities, but theres something else....
I heard from many other travellers there that they were still in Benares much longer than they had originally planned. Something about the city just makes you forget about time. And so it happened to me too. I had planned on spending at most 5 days there, but a week just flew by and then it was almost time for the big festival at the full moon, so I had to stay for that!
My hotel was only a stones throw from the river, with a brilliant view from the rooftop restaurant over the old city, the river and to the distant, hazy horizons. And all for about NZ$5 per night! And I met some cool people there too, which definitely made my stay more fun :)
Only thing was, we got a bit suspicious about the quality of the food at their restaurant after after a few of us contracted a mysterious bug that played havoc with our digestive systems. But the medicine that I'd picked up at the start of my journey did the trick to kill off the little microbes. Hah!
All along the river Ganges there's many, many ghats (concreted steps and flat spaces). Some are used for bathing, some for laundry (who knows if the people & clothes actually come out cleaner??) and then theres the cremation ghats. Its considered to be a direct path to heaven for Hindus to die and be cremated beside the Ganges. So 24 hours a day there are fires burning and bodies being delivered, wrapped in red or golden cloths. And scores of frail elderly Indians awaiting their final journey.
Its quite unnerving that its all so public - anyone and everyone can walk along and watch the cremations, only no photos are allowed. The trouble for westerners is that you always get a local guide attach himself to you to explain the rituals, then of course he asks for some money.
Its just impossible to get any peace....
Except at one of the luxury hotels of course. But they were well out of my price range. So we came up with the great idea to go & spend an afternoon lounging next to their pool. That was within the budget, and damn it was nice :) There was even a little waterfall built at one end of the pool and classic reclining chairs to sunbathe on :)
It was just a bit of a shock to head back into the madness of the city after a few hours of relaxation.
The full moon festival was in honour of Shiva - one of the most revered of the many Hindu gods. It seemed like there were a million people thronging around the ghats that day, in a million different colours too. I did get out and amongst it, but didnt have the energy to stay fighting through the crowd for too long.
Later in the evening I went with a couple of friends for a cruise in one of the small boats. A much more civilised way to see everything! But even then you cant escape from the intrepid sales-kids. They just paddle their own boats around and attach themselves to yours to continue their sales pitches. We splashed out 5 rupees (~NZ 15c) each for little candles & flowers in a small leaf, to be released into the river as an offerring to Shiva. Im sure he was very pleased with us!
I felt after that that it was time for me to move on. I'd experienced enough of Benares, without any permanent damage (i think). Next stop Bharatpur and visiting the Taj Mahal....
