Destination: India – Uttar Pradesh - Varanasi – It’s all about expectations…
Ok, let’s be honest here, we were kind of dreading this trip to Varanasi. We’ve heard the most confronting things happen in this place. Dead bodies floating in the river, beggars surrounding you, lepers touching you, sick and dying people everywhere, bodies being burnt left, right and centre. Good enough to stay in the hotel?
Going back to the trip, the 2AC (2 tier AC) train is great but we had to share a cabin with a crazy Algerian asshole, who thought he was Mick Jagger (at least he was the same age) and his stupid bitch. The idiot was very rude to us, and then he realized “we” were Brazilian and decided he likes us. He thought we were American (of course, being American justifies him being an ass…) and then, he did everything to get our attention, including playing his guitar (very badly) on the train. For our personal pleasure, we ignored him solemnly, which drove him insane. Why don’t you like me, I’m so cool? Anyway, we get to the train station and see that the hotel sent a rickshaw to pick us up (paid, of course). After the rickshaw ride, we have to walk for 15 minutes through narrow streets to get to the hotel.
The hotel is very far from great and so, we take the most expensive room. Still not great but the staff are helpful and we have Ganges and ghats views. Still not sure it was a good thing. Being myself, I take a quick look around and refuse to go sightseeing or seeing anything at all till we get a train ticket out of here for tomorrow. So, we get a ticket and go for a walk in the afternoon. First impressions? Very underwhelming, but as we said before, it’s India, we have to give it some time… No dead bodies, beggars, lepers… Only the burning ghats with bodies being burnt full blast. Ok, it’s a hot day and everybody, even beggar and lepers, needs a break. Cow shit is everywhere, the smell of urine is overwhelming and the smoke from the burnt bodies does not help it much. The amazing buildings are abandoned and really run down. It's quite a depressing feeling. I silently thank the universe for the said train tickets 1st class, whoo-hoo!!!).
We go back to the hotel and the owner tells us there is a boat trip at sunset and then a Puja ceremony in the evening. Not very excited, we look at each other and say, why not?
We take the boat trip with another couple and then suddenly everything changes. We start to see the true magic of Varanasi. The architecture, the narrow streets, the burning ghats, everything looks so much better at sunset. We decided to walk our way back to the hotel, leaving the boat behind. Very good decision as we get to see a beautiful Hindu prayer ceremony for the Mother Ganges. Can’t claim to understand it however it was extremely beautiful and moving. The music and the lighting were magic. Paul even got a blessing, for anything between 100 and 200 rupees, a real bargain.
We go to sleep early and wake up at 4AM. One of the guys from the hotel kindly walks us to the rickshaw, another 15 minutes with all our gear through the narrow piss smelling streets. We take the rickshaw to the train station, only for it to break down half way there!!! Unbelievably, the guy tries to push the rickshaw the rest of the way (with over 1.5 kms to go), so we have to find the heart to tell him we don’t have the time. He then finds us another rickshaw, so we can make it to the train station on time. After the Varanasi experience, we treat ourselves to our first “first class” train trip in India, and man, “what a difference a class makes”. It’s absolutely amazingly awesome! Paul is in heaven, we both are, really. Clean, quiet, good night to all…
