Allahabad
Trip Start
Jan 04, 2008
1
105
130
Trip End
Dec 17, 2008
Allahabad,
Uttar Pradesh,
India
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Next on the agenda was a 2 hour drive to meet up with the boats that would take us down the Ganges to Varanasi. The boats weren't anything like we were expecting. They only sat 4 people plus the oarsman and skipper, had a cloth sail made from scrap material and seating was a combination of mattresses and blankets that we would use at the camp that evening. At least they were floating though, especially as we were loading all our bags on to them, it was fingers crossed that we'd make to Varanasi with dry belongings
Nehru's House
.We set sail watching a cremation on the riverbanks, what all Hindu's aspire to for a funeral as the Ganges is their holy river, before being met by the kitchen boat and being served lunch. Being a holy river meant no meat, eggs or alcohol, but the veggie combination provided was very appetizing, with more than double the amount of food needed, I don't think were losing any weight, but we are certainly eating quite healthily.
The afternoon was spent cruising down the river, teaching Ravi how to gamble ( bad influences that we are) and spotting a dead body floating down the river being eaten by a dog, disgusting but expected being the Ganges. We stopped for the evening at a sand bank island and the crew set up tents and dinner while we photographed the superb sunset and drank chai masala (a spice infused tea). After another huge veggie meal we all relaxed under the stars chatting, interspersed by either a shooting star or someone wandering off across the sand to find a special spot, quite a few were suffering from Delhi belly and it was very amusing to see the little footpaths going in all directions the following morning. Most of us slept under the stars that night as it was so hot with little breeze, poor blokes, not only had they set up the tents for no-one to sleep in them but they would be rowing all the following morning in 35 degree heat.
Yep, the next day began at sunrise with no breeze and by 9am it was already scorching hot. We just lazed on the boat under canopy, teaching Ravi the ins and outs of the stock market and testing his brain power with a mental game on the iPhone, all very relaxing for us, the poor oarsman must have sweated out a few gallons though. We reached the drop off point (Chunar) just after another humungous lunch and transferred the bags from boats to 4x4 people carriers to make the 3 hour drive to Varanasi.
