We took a 14 hour sleeper train from Delhi. Tick that box. Catching trains in India is not as intuitive as one would think. One would assume the train number and scheduled destination would appear on the departing board. One would also assume that the cars on the trains would be adequately available to read. One wouldn't assume that somebody with a print out sheet of paper with your name on it would appear 5 minutes before the train is scheduled to leave indicating that you are indeed supposed to hop that that particular car. Once that nerve-wracking bit was settled we made ourselves comfy in our little corner of the train. Me, Glen, our Aussie friends Marcus, Magda, and Drew all shared our tiny little space, our snacks, our dinner, chai (after being asked 30 times throughout the evening), and whiskey. Then it was off to sleep and wake up at our anticipated destination. Varanasi in one word? Intense. The sounds are louder, the smells much stronger. Mmmmm methane! This Holy City does not stop. In my opinion you either have to understand deep devotion or be really thick skinned to go there. The Ganga river is known among Hindus for its purity and divinity and it is thought that a bath in her waters cleanses one of all sins. That is fine and great and all....but did they stop to notice the human cremation going on 20 feet away? Or how about the litter, bugs, shit, and water buffalo they are also bathing themselves in??? Not to mention they wash their laundry in all this business. I don't know about you but last I heard...1.5 million fecal coliform bacteria was darn near septic. Anyways...
The quintessential thing to do in Varanasi is hire a rowboat. We bargained our boat ride from 200 rupees per person to 50 rupees. I tell ya...those guys see white skin and they see money. We took our boat ride at dawn to view most of the 80 ghats. Most of them are bathing ghats while 2 are burning ghats. We witnessed several cremations where the deceased is wrapped in white cloth, dunked in the holy river, and placed on a bed of burning timber. The family stays near the body until it is burned away...it usually takes about 3 hours. No female family members are allowed at the cremation because it is thought that if tears are shed then the soul of the deceased will not become free. It was a sobering experience. So far I think Varanasi is the most charismatic place in India I've visited. It was overwhelming to take it all in. It is a place where life and death is in your face.
The quintessential thing to do in Varanasi is hire a rowboat. We bargained our boat ride from 200 rupees per person to 50 rupees. I tell ya...those guys see white skin and they see money. We took our boat ride at dawn to view most of the 80 ghats. Most of them are bathing ghats while 2 are burning ghats. We witnessed several cremations where the deceased is wrapped in white cloth, dunked in the holy river, and placed on a bed of burning timber. The family stays near the body until it is burned away...it usually takes about 3 hours. No female family members are allowed at the cremation because it is thought that if tears are shed then the soul of the deceased will not become free. It was a sobering experience. So far I think Varanasi is the most charismatic place in India I've visited. It was overwhelming to take it all in. It is a place where life and death is in your face.
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| LOVE HIM!!! |
Jenn, your photographs are truly amazing! Wow. It really makes me appreciate the MULTITUDES of comforts I take for granted daily.
ReplyDeleteWhat's up with the little girl with eyeliner?
Is that guy Glenn's twin?