Nar Indra Hotel Varanasi

... along the Ghats. The biggest shock for us was seeing the cremation Ghats along the river. We knew they were there of course and Varanasi is well known for them, but it was still surreal to see dead bodies being washed in the holy waters of the Ganges and then burnt on stacks of wood at the edge of the river. We got an early start with a goal to crossing the Nepal border that day. We’d got to the train station on the slowest autorickshaw ever (could’ve run quicker ...

... the narrow trafic free maze of streets that surround the famous ghats (tall stone steps that lead down to the river ganges). They are lined with guesthouses, resteraunts, internet cafes, shops and beggars and more wandering cows than I have ever seen in my life!! They seem to have no owners and as they are holy animals noone seems to mind when they proceed to walk into shops, poo and **** everywhere and eat anything lying around on the floor!!<br>We made our way down to the main ...

... els and they top it up for you 30p a bargain!!!!<br>going to really miss the indian food so much just becaud the spices and the food is so fdifferent to what yo have at hoem<br>we went om a boat ride in the evening of last night, sadly the rain from agra was also in Varanasi so no sunset :( but still amzing to see the burnuing bodies and the all day funerals taking place on th eone of the ...

... and spending only a few days in one place. Yet the crazy thing is we talked about our last 2 weeks of the trip we have left in Bali and asked ourselves will that be too long there?? No sense in our thinking here at all. We calculated that we have just 10 weeks left of our year away today and for me It is mixed feelings while enjoying travelling I am looking forward to going home for a while but not back to work at all. Wayne just takes it all in his stride, ione day at a ...

... that not just India needs to overcome, but here it is visible, in the west we hide the problem from view in landfills, but the problem does not go away, we just feel better for not seeing it.<br><br>As I stared at the ceiling 10 inches from my face I started to laugh uncontrollably. Eight weeks ago I was sitting in the board room of Peugeot explaining the results to the main board and now I am analysing the various squashed mosquitoes and colourful ...

... boat (unsuccessfully...) which is really hard work. We had a new found respect for him after that!<br><br>The other highlight of Varanasi was the food! Delicious street food everywhere - we were almost Samosa'd out by the end. And the Indian sweets are sooo good!! The curries weren't bad either!<br>____________________________ <br><br>Where to from Varanasi...<br> August 8th to August 21st - We leave India and will spend 2 weeks traveling in Nepal.<br>

... they pump it up from the ground and carry it with buckets into their home. It's a hard life for them and the women but they are full of giant smiles and most friendly. Dis taka dis tas........<br><br>Yoga<br><br>We've been doing our own Sivananda yoga routine in the mornings on the rooftop with the sparrows but decided to try another style so we found out who the gurus were in Varanasi and did a two hour class with the wife of one of the gurus at their small ashram ...

... underside. I bought a flower garland and some bindis from a stall on the riverbank before heading back to the hotel for another nice sleep in an air conditioned room (Annette and Debby kindly let me share with them for the rest of our stay in Varanasi). The following morning we took a dawn boat ride onto the Ganges and again I was convinced of the peace underlying the hectic exterior of India. Watching all the Indians joyously bathe in the Mother Ganga early in the ...

... They collect this jewellry from the river and it is sold in town, with the money going towards helping the families pay for the procedure (it is quite expensive for each burning as the wood comes from very particular places around India).<br><br>There are 5 types of people that they will not cremate. Women who are pregnant, young childen, holy people, people with leprosy and people who have been killed by a snake bite. These people they ...

... being one of the most sacred pilgrimage places for Hindus of all denominations. More than 1,000,000 pilgrims visit the city each year. Varanasi is one of the holiest places in Buddhism too, being one of the four pilgrimage sites said to have been designated by Gautama Buddha himself. The spiritual and religious significance could be compared to what the Nile river meant to the ancient Egyptians. While the Ganges may be ...