The holy Mother Ganga in Varanasi

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  Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
Saturday, January 24, 2009

First of all, Varanasi is bonkers.  Absolutely stark raving bonkers.  It is the most congested, busy, manic bonkers place I've been to in India - and yes, that's over and above Mumbai and Delhi combined.  Seriously, I think this is where all the mopeds, motorbikes, autorickshaws, bikes and cycle rickshaws end up because there are literally THOUSANDS of them on the road.  I took an 11km trip today and it took ONE HOUR AND TWENTY MINS to get there.  Yes, you read that right.  It's worse than travelling through Wales on a bank holiday weekend. I know that statistically, Mumbai and Delhi are bigger and more congested - the diference here is that everything is so small, so it makes it seem that much worse.  Very few major roads, all small, badly paved roads and shed loads of vehicles on them.  Add to that the fact that there is no rhyme or reason to the way anyone drives - as with everywhere in India - and you have a very bonkers place.

Anyways, I'm solo and so it was with a touch of trepidation that I arrived at Varanasi airport after a very painless journey.  I was instantly in super paranoid mode - would the hotel have sent a car, will he be legit, will they find my body a month from now being eaten by one of the many cows on the road?  All usual stuff in the mind of a Ms M Cleave.  But the driver was there and delivered me safely to my hotel, through the chaos that is Varanasi.  Varanasi sits on the banks of the Ganges (the river Ganga as it's known here) and is a series of ghats lined up along the river, one next to the other. As Wikipedia kindly explains, a ghat is a series of steps leading down to a body of water, and specifically here, to the Ganges.  The main use of a ghat here is for cleansing - the ritual of puja is performed at sunrise and sunset by many people - but there are also burning ghats where cremations take place.

I am staying at Assi Ghat, which is at the bottom end of the Old Town, and from here it's possible to walk the length of many of the ghats.  Which is what I did yesterday.  All along the length of the ghats, there were people bathing - the men would get in with what I assume is the Hindu equivalent of a bathing suit and wash themselves all over; women would go in wearing their saris; other people washed their clothes in the water while boat loads of new arrivals passed by on the river.  They could be found the length and breadth of the ghats and my one abiding thought was 'Why on earth would they do that when the water is so FILTHY!!!'  Of course, I know why they do it, but even understanding the religious significance it holds for people, I still find it hard to fathom.  As I watched truck loads of hotel laundry (napkins, towels, sheets etc) being washed at one ghat, I kept my fingers crossed that the laundry I deposited with reception that morning would not end up along here.

As I moseyed along, I found myself at one of the burning ghats and sure enough, there was a cremation being prepared.  I was expecting to be more.......freaked out than I was, but it's very easy to disassociate yourself from the body wrapped in a white shroud.  Even though you know it's there, it just doesn't seem....real somehow.  I watched the family build the pyre, place the body on it, complete the pyre over their loved one, and then sprinkle a whole load of stuff on it; I left before the lighting of the pyre itself, I'm not sure if I could have coped with that.  The ghoulish part were the 'touts', trying to entice tourists to the burning ghats (there are two of them here if I'm not mistaken) as if it were an attraction to behold.  It didn't feel right to me, and so I moved on pretty quickly.

Being on my own, I'm getting a LOT more attention of the unwanted kind  - "Hey pretty lady, I like your hair", or 'Hey lovely lady, you wanna come with me for some fun?'.  It makes the usual kind of attention - 'need rickshaw, need boat, need guide' - come as a welcome relief.  I found though that if I put on my shades, walk fast and simply ignore them, they tend to go away.  I did have one particularly persistent guy yesterday, but my stern reprimands to him finally did the trick. It's a shame as it makes me feel rude and distrustful, but I'm veering on the cautious side.  I haven't really ventured out at night as from what I've seen, it wouldn't be safe.  There are lots and lots of dark streets and alleys, and it would be very easy to get lost - so I've stayed close to the hotel for dinner and kept myself to myself.  I did have big intentions of meeting up with people, and I have chatted to a few people as I've been out and about, but the hotel I'm in doesn't really lend itself to it - no rooftop restaurant or communal area - but I find that I don't really mind.  It's nice to be in my own company.

Today I headed to Sarnath which is the 11km journey I took.  It is a very spiritual place for Buddhists as it's where Buddha is reputed to have delivered his first sermon.  I booked a cab through the hotel and the driver was great at taking me around all the sights.  It made a change from the Hindu and Mugal palaces and forts that have been a dominating part of this trip.  Plus, it was nice to get out of crazy Varanasi!

And so another day comes to a close and tomorrow, I will be on the move again.  A quick stop over in Mumbai before I head to Goa for some much needed R&R and hopefully to catch up with new friends!

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