Lord Vishnu Guest House Varanasi

... plain torturre, the guy was massaging my actual spine bone seemingly trying to make me a cripple, after about 2 minutes i told him to stop, he mistook my looks of anger and pain for enjoyment and said he wanted more money because it was a good massage. Fool, i gave him 10 and walked off with him following me so to lose him i went to a tiny Nepali temple which i had seen signposted near my hostel.

I paid to get in, again 10 rps and walked up, the doors ...

... We travelled past a mini burning ghat, where they cremate the dead and past a larger one further down then sailed back to watch the Aarti ceremony, which is when light from wicks soaked in purified butter are offered to the gods.
Our stay has been short and sweet but definitely worth the trip on the Ganges.


Nicola and Darryl x

... us. We used our "Pac-Safes" , stainless steel net like cages that surround you pack and allow you to chain and lock your bag to a pipe, beds, or other object. We noticed several other Indian natives locking up their bags for the long night ride. The A/C worked well and there was a strong fan. We slept in our clothes and kept our money on our skin. I had a small rucksack near my head, with my camera, but will stow it in the main bag next time.

It was a ...

... the body.

Each caste has a different section of the ghats where they are cremated, specifically Brahmans are burned in a holy area away from everyone else, and it is Brahman priests who tend to the cremation. And then there are some people who are exempt from the funeral pyre completely. Sadus and babies are instead tied to large rocks and pushed into the water by a boat. Those killed by cobras are tied to banana trees ...

Varanasi was always a bit tricky, being at least a day's train ride in either direction from Delhi and Agra. It was on a knife's edge whether we could squeeze it in our route in India; thankfully we made it work, as it offers a truely unique insight into Hindu culture, and how rituals and the past continue to influence how they live and die.
Our rickshaw could only take us so far, leaving us to head into the oldtown bazaar alleyways on foot. Perhaps even ...

... in baskets and asked people for money. Whilst in a shop two kids cornered us in and threatened to let their snakes loose in the store unless we gave baksheesh. I snapped a couple of photos and dropped him a couple of rupees just to be safe but the cobra escaped anyway and a kid had to strangle it around the neck to catch it. Some of the snakes are drugged or have their mouthes sewn shut and some are force fed milk on this day. Say no to crude snake handling.

Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India inoursuitcase

... bouquet of spices wafting up your nostrils as you walk. The food vendors sit by large pans of smoking oil balanced on earthern pots and turn out a large variety of delights all day. At the moment there are what we're calling Shiva snacks available which are made only on the Mondays during Shiva's festival.

We shared a beverage with Melbourne Rebecca from the Vipassana and her husband, stopped in at a yoga school to chat with another teacher and then i went to ...

... square wooden structure.

'Why doesn't it stink here?' I asked the man. We were probably twenty feet away from a burning human body and all I could smell was smoke.

'That's a good question!' he said excitedly. 'We use a special wood here and it covers up the smell very well. But it is very expensive to bring in so much wood.'

Ah yes, expensive wood, this was just the sort of segway my corpse burning expert was looking for.

'Do you think you ...

... ago by the Hindu god, Shiva (though it's generally understood to be around 3,000 years old). It is one of Hinduism's seven sacred cities. Brem said it has always been famous for its silk and ivory. A great quote from American writer Mark Twain goes, "Benares is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together." On any future trip to India I will certainly come back here to see ...

... of meditation which seemed like the longest five minutes in my life.

After all this we retired to our room where Akay attempted to heal Michelle's back. I sat quietly in the corner, ostensibly reading a book whilst Michelle lay on the mattress looking a bit nervous. First of all he lit incense and sat praying at the end of the bed as though he was administering the Last Rites. At this stage the lights dimmed markedly due to a localised power shortage which added to the ...