Varanasi Unwrapped...

This is the view of the Ghats of Varanasi. I took a room at Shanti's for 100 Rs. a day. My first encounter was with one Australian guy who came to Varanasi for 2 days but had ended up staying for 2 weeks. I think it was his influence that I too spent my next 5 days on the rooftop of Shanti's instead of the previously planned 3 days. T

The day time is extremely hot in the months of March,April,May and the heat is at the maximum in the next two months. Deciding to save my energy and skin in the afternoon I went for my first stroll on the Ghats in the evening. I was enjoying the serene surroundings and the people when it happened. My friend clicked a picture of the Ghat where dead bodies are burned as a ritual or you can say the last rites, and they saw it. I could see the local people shouting at us and preparing to beat us up with bamboo sticks. Just then two more guys intervened and started pushing the locals behind saying that my friend was a foreigner and didn't know about the customs and rituals. And then something unexpected happened. Our two saviours asked us to pay them money, if order to make our rescue faster. We ended up paying them 1000 Rs. to save ourselves. I came to know later from one the boys at our rooftop restaurant that it happens all the time. The Ghat we were on was a famous one. The thing to know is that there is a dead body burning there 24 x 7 x 365 . I mean there is not even a single second that there is not someone being given the last rites. And after spending the next 4 days in Varanasi I knew that he was not lying.

The Holy City VARANASI ..

April 24, 2009

The first look of the most awaited Varanasi railway station was indeed a pleasant view for our eyes. I was travelling with my friend Laurie Barnes from Bristol, UK from Mumbai. We had left in a totally unplanned way from Mumbai and were just trying to make it till Varanasi anyhow. We had to travel by bus till Jalgaon on the southern border of Madhya Pradesh. We arrived there early morning and without a clue of how to move on. One wise man suggested us to take a train which was supposedly going to come an hour later. With the general tickets and 40 degrees of heat the 3 hour wait till noon was exhausting. But it is the way things go on in India. Its called the IST (Indian Standard Time).

When we finally got off the train we had already spent 30 hours in the train. But what followed was worth the ride.

The splendid view of Varanasi city was spell-bounding. I fell into love once again with the surroundings. We took an auto rickshaw till the Main Ghat.

Tip 1. Be careful of the auto rickshaw drivers. They are also tauts. Don't get misguided. The best place to stay for a backpacker is on the Main Ghat. Hotels are as cheap as 100 INR.

Shanti Guest House is the best among the 20 odd places we looked for accomodation. Suggested by many others this place is one of its kind.With a 24 hour rooftop restaurant, extremely friendly staff, a well maintained Pool Table, FOREX, telephone booth and travel agency and an internet cafe this 4 storey building also overlooks the Ghats.