Hotel Alka Varanasi

... Varanasi please check my album on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=96416&id=1387922267&l=f1cfb139d7 TO STAY: Hotel Alka is between the main ghat, Dasaswamedh Ghat and the Burning Ghat.Nice, simple rooms, with hot showers, great ...

... Apart from being actually spending time on the ghats, we were fortunate to have two other perspectives.  Our lovely hotel, Hotel Alka, has a view overlooking the ghat from it’s courtyard restaurant and room balconies.  We could often ...

... midday when people checked out. Luckily they gave us a room at their other guest house to rest our weary heads. Our search for hotel Alka as worth it  as were greeted with possibly the best view of the Ganges in the whole town. Varanasi, also ...

... guesthouse. Strangely enough, many of the budget hotels in Varanasi have some of the best views of the Ganges River. As promised, our Hotel Alka certainly did. From the window in our room, we had a fantastic view of the Ganges and its Ghats. Lunch on ...

... a pre-paid booth now. Which charges quite a lot, 450 rupees, but at least it is organized. The hotel I had in mind is called the Alka Hotel and is right on the Ganges. It is pretty recommended because it is on one of the best locations. I did not have a ...

... . Twelve hours later we were in Varanasi, one of the oldest cities in the world apparently, holed up in a great hotel called Alka, on the Ganges itself but sticking to its backpacker roots in spite of its enviable location. Varanasi’s old city is ...

... (a ghat is a set of steps leading down into the river, and there are many of them all along the banks of the Ganges in Varanasi). The hotel is in the old part of the city, which is made up of very narrow lanes - too narrow for our autorickshaw, so we ...

... we had to go up.  We walked up a narrow alley, dodging various forms of excrement and urine (the old part of Varanasi consists of a network of narrow alleyways.  They are beautiful an awe-inspiring, however, they are also littered with cow, ...

... or yellow cloths. The body is strapped to a gurney, two bamboo poles with cloth, and carried through the winding streets of Varanasi towards the ghat. The body is then submerged in the Ganges. According to the weight of the body, the amount of wood ...

... I didn't feel unsafe at any point. In fact, I was quite happy to wander around both the ghats and the backstreets alone.   Varanasi is a very holy Hindu city. It's on the Ganges and is full of temples and pilgrims who come to bathe in the holy ...

... ganges its amazing how happy a nice room can make you.  So we sat for a few beers then went for a wander. So exploring Varanasi to get anywhere you have to walk through a huge maze of tiny lanes all covered in giant piles of cow shit not to mention ...

... and laughter for us.  By the time the show ended we were feeling full of things that were good about Varanasi – vitality, creativity, passion, friendship, authenticity, and charity.  We wandered toward the ghat where the Ganga ...

... even decent phones - e.g. Andaman Islands), or we've been on boats, planes or trains etc.  Anyway, since we're in Varanasi now, I thought I'd write about this place first and then maybe catch up on the stuff we've done in between later. Varanasi ...

... along the river to the east is the burning ghat for the poor, Harishchandra Ghat, which is one of the oldest ghats in Varanasi.  The devotions are just as sacred here, but the wood used is other than sandalwood to accommodate the lower income of the ...

... meaning to mention and have forgotten to include: - Indian men are actually way more helpful than I originally experienced when I came to Varanasi. I haven't worn my sunglasses since the second day I was here, and no longer feel a need to put on my ...