Hotel Siddharth Varanasi

... utilidad ya que en todo momento sabíamos en que parte estábamos, a qué velocidad íbamos y cuanto faltaba para llegar; éramos los primeros de la cola para bajar jejeje.<br><br> Al llegar a Varanasi (ex Benares) nos encontramos con otro chofer que nos estaba esperando para llevarnos al Guest House. Ahí dormimos un poco y al día siguiente conocimos a un par de chicos muy buena onda del hostel llamados Amid, Ashish y Raju. Amid nos hizo de guía turístico un par de días y nos llevo ...

... definitely not in Plymstock anymore! Went to the cinema today, randomly, and watched a film all in Hindi...it was about a village girl who wanted to play international cricket but had to dress as a man to do it!! Followed most of it (!) and we loved to Bollywood-esq singing midway through!!!!!! Love it. <br><br>We are going to get a boat tomorrow down the Ganga to get a better view of the riverside and the ghats, then probably going to get ...

... literally) temple. The ghats are amazing to behold, and people are bathing and enjoying the river (the guide said people use the water only for sacred purposes, but I have plenty of photographic evidence showing serious "cannonball" action). <br><br>I'm also getting to know locals here- which is practically a first after nearly a month in India. Many children work on commission for shops around town attracting shoppers- I know they just want me to come in their ...

... br><br>We stopped along the way home to explore the little shops and businesses, some of them just holes in the wall. Nadine bought a stone chillum with a holy man's face carved on it. Varanasi's lanes are studded with paan vendors and red spit stains the streets, it's a part of the culture in Banares. They write poems and songs about this heart-shaped paan leaf. It is even mentioned in the Buddhist tales and, over the centuries, it has gathered its own legends as a ...

... trying to bring us to one of the hotels in which he earns commission per guest we continued! The hostel; as predicted; was horrible 'dirty and full of lizards and insects with no locks on the door!! <br>He whisked us off to nice friendly hostel. One that was full of tourists from around the world and a nice rooftop restaurant! <br>The first day we met a french Canadian girl who was travelling solo around india! We had lunch ...

... gaps while you cling on for dear life, just trying not to fall out the open sides. They are all decorated lovingly by their drivers, often painted gaudily with love hearts and small altars to various gods. Think, 'tacky, 6yr old girl decorations'. <br><br>We arrived at our hotel, after being entertained with stories of the impending election from our friendly driver. Apparently this year had been a good election lead-up as the death toll was still under ...

... I regret my only real views of Varanasi on this trip will have been from the tour car to Sarnath I've come to relish, as always, the passing parade of colors, sounds and humanity (a drive through India is so unlike any place I've experienced in my 50+ years!). On the way my guide, Brem, offered up fascinating information about Varanasi. He said that because of the incredible concentration of diverse religious practices and temples in the city ...

... Resource. <br><br>The video is an interview with my friend Nandan Upadhyay who does work with Lok Samiti and tells about their story and their work fighting against the abusive practices of the Coca-Cola plant in the community of Mehdiganj (just outside Varanasi). The background music is from various samples taken from puja's and ashram's in Varanasi and Rishikesh. The accompanying ...