Hotel Sonmony Varanasi

... station manager, thinking that this would help us get on the right train. Trains came and went and we kept checking the departures board for our train. More delays and we couldn’t hear the announcements as the speakers were crackling. After 3 hours sitting on our packs someone from the station managers office asked where we were going. He then advised that our train platform had changed and the train was about to leave in 15 minutes. We high-tailed it, but it seemed it had left ...

... taken to a pre-built pile to be cremated amongst logs placed on top of one another like in a game of jenga. It was pretty hard hitting but somehow encapsulating. The thing which pressed home with me was how mechanical this procedure had evolved to be. There seemed to be no grief, no tears, no 'what now?'s For the people that I was looking at, a life's dream was being realised and in minutes the dip, prayers and cremation had taken ...

... who is laid into a pile of wood and set alight. It's a pretty unusual but interesting ceremony; but we didn't stay long. Manikarnika Ghat, is the main cremation point, and here you can see several taking place at once. Also here are piles and piles of different sort of wood (depending on which type the family can afford). Understandably no photos were allowed, but a worker there began to explain to us how the fires here have been kept alight for almost ...

Varanasi is as hot and dusty as Agra and Dehli and has the same level of chaos. We had the usual and annoying touts trying to lead us to hotels where we would end up paying more than the going rate so they would get a commission. This actually worked in our favour, because as one of them was showing us the way (unprompted, they just leach on to you) we passed a lodge and ducked in to have a look (and to hide from the tout!). It ended up being a ...

... with his colleague to prove he was an astrologer to the stars, he had us fingerprinted and was firing questions at us. I told him we were just coming to meet him initially and started backing out the door. The guy got quite mad, slamming his books shut and acting like he was putting a curse on us, sorry mate, you can keep your bad vibes, delivery not accepted. We left laughing our heads off. My run-ins with the astrologists of Benares didn't end there though.<br><br ...

... etwas muehsam...<br>und dann nach 2 Stunden doch im Ganpati Guesthouse angekommen. Super gelegen direkt am Ganges . Hab dann noch die Gelegenheit kurz beim Puja vorbeizuschaun. In diesen Tagen findet naemlich das Fest des Shiva statt zu dem aus dem ganzen Land die Leute nach Varanasi kommen.<br><br>Abendessen und ab in die Falle, morgen heissts zeitig raus. 5.30 Bootsfahrt auf dem Ganges...

Getting to Varanasi was one of the most uncomfortable 24 hours I've had yet! It could have been so much smoother had we planned ahead...... Only problem is that we left all the travel details to the last second. The train would have been our first choice because all that is involved is getting on ...taking some sleeping pills and waking up at our desired destination. Our second choice would have been a sleeper bus which is ...

... checked in, then had a brief 'team meeting' to discuss the itinerary for India, and fill out the inevitable forms for Abhi. After that we had a very nice meal, along with a couple of beers, in the hotel restaurant before we retired to bed for the night.<br><br> <br><br><br>