Varanasi - India
3/17/05
After boarding on the train, at 12:30 am, we were so tired that we went straight to sleep and just woke up close to Varanasi, around 9 AM. We had tea from the train service, damn good by the way, and learned another interesting thing. The cups used to serve the tea, made of baked clay, were 'disposable'. After that we understood why there were so many broken clay cups trashed on the streets.
In the train station, somebody was waiting for us and brought us to the hotel where we rested from the trip. The traffic was, again, just like hell with all the odds we have already described.
In the afternoon, another driver picked us up at the hotel to take us to Sarnath, about 10 km away from Varanasi.
This is believed to be the place where Buddha preached his first sermon after he had attained enlightenment at Bodhgaya.
So, it is a pilgrimage place for the Buddhist and there were lots of monks walking around with their characteristic orange clothes.
After Sarnath, since Varanasi is the capital of silk, we visited a silk factory, and before that visit we thought that making a carpet was a lot of work, but making a silk bed cover for example is a much harder task to accomplish, because the silk is much much thinner then the wool used in carpets and also because of the design that is much richer in details. It is really complicated and and it can take months to get one done.
We saw all different types of silk and how they work with it. It was a very interesting visit. On the down side we had again to go through all their products one by one and bare this annoying selling strategy. Luckily I have Angie, and she can keep giving no's through out the whole repetitive selling show. And even though we didn't buy anything, this guide wasn't upset like the other one, that was nice. Enough of silk we wanted to start evaluating if it was reasonable or not to go to Nepal, so we went to the government Indian Tourist Bureau and also spoke with the tourist agency of our driver. We studied the several options to get to Kathmandu and Pokhara from Varanasi, but weren't sure yet about how safe it was regarding the Maoist issue in Nepal, so we postponed the decision to the next day. Before going back to the hotel, we stopped by the silk museum where they also sell all kinds of silk products; we saw all the stages of silk production. At the hotel, we experienced several blackouts and eventually there was no electricity anymore. It seems to be a common issue in Varanasi, as most of the hotels have diesel electricity generators.
3/18/05
The next morning we left at 5:30 am for a boat tour on the Ganga at sunrise.
The ancient city of Varanasi is the religious center of the world for Hindus. Thousands of pilgrims visit the city from all parts of India and from across the world. The unique relationship between the sacred river and the city is the essence of Varanasi, 'The land of sacred light'. The Ganga is believed to have flown from heaven to wash away the worldly sins of mankind.
The city was funded some 10 centuries before Christ and it is mentioned in the holy scriptures of Hindus and in Buddhist texts. The life and activities in the city revolves around the holy river. Life on the banks of the Ganga begins before dawn when thousands of pilgrims - men, women and children - come down to the river to wait for the rising sun. The people immerse in the sacred river and wash away their sins.
From our little boat we could see the famous Ganga scenes and hear the monks and priest singing and reciting their sacred texts. The pilgrims are not alone; there are also hundreds of tourists with their cameras ready to register everything.
That brings business into the river, souvenir boatshops are always around trying to catch the tourist attention, flowers with a little candle in the middle is the top seller, so that the people put it on the water as good luck.
The sunrise was beautiful; the red color of the sun and the reflection in the river was amazing.
Right beside the spot where people were bathing there is a place where bodies were being burned and the ashes poured in the Ganga.
The boatman told us that around 100 bodies get burned every day at that place. Also not so far from there, pipes are bringing waste from the city into the river, so the whole thing is quite filthy.
He also showed us the different palaces that used to belong to the different Maharajas that used to come to Varanasi regularly.
Once the boat tour finished, the boatman took us to the local market place, as usual he is also trying to make his commissions. The market is composed of lots of 5-feet wide streets close to the river. The smell in these streets is disgusting; there are excrements not only from the cows walking around but also from the people that poured everything in the streets. There is garbage everywhere on the floor and floating in that sticky mud. There are people walking around everywhere, some even barefoot!!!. We stopped at several little shops and saris making places. We were offered tea but in such place it is quite scary to eat or drink anything.... After lots of looking and nothing of buying, we went back to the car where the driver was waiting for us.
He took us to a very nice local restaurant for breakfast, a nice garden with several little huts made of dry grass, each hut with a dining table in it, really cute. After breakfast we had to take the decision whether to go or not to Nepal. We already knew how to get to Kathmandu and Pokhara but weren't sure about how safe it was, so we tried to contact some information centers in Nepal, but none of the phone numbers given by Lonely Planet worked. Since we read a few weeks before that the phone lines and internet got cut by the government, we were wondering if the numbers were wrong or if the phone lines in Nepal were still not working? We finally succeeded to contact the Nepalese embassy in New Delhi which told us that the political situation had improved and that life in Katmandu is back to normal. There was no curfew anymore and the roads were not blocked anymore by the Maoists, but they added, the situation could change at any moment. Also, they gave us some other numbers in Katmandu in case we wanted more info. We succeeded to call the French embassy in Nepal which told us the same thing. So we decided, although a bit scared, to book our trip to Katmandu and two nights of hotel. There, we would evaluate how dangerous it would be to go on a trek far from the city. Angelique again managed to negotiate down the price of our trip from Varanasi to Kathmandu do, poor travel agents have no chance with her. We then went back to the hotel to get ready for our trip to Nepal with was estimated to be accomplished in 20 hours. After everything was set, Angie suddenly started to feel sick. It was her first food poisoning on the trip, probably from our nice hut garden breakfast. She had a complete hit, throwing up having terrible pain and also diarrheas. At her worst, even the water she was drinking to rehydrate was being refused by the stomach and put out. Moreover, there was no electricity, so she spent her afternoon in a dark bathroom! But even though she had probably the most miserable afternoon of the trip, she did not want to cancel the trip to Nepal. So, on the next morning, 4 am she was feeling a bit better and we were on the way to Kathmandu, 350 km to be covered by car, up to the Nepalese border called Sonauli, from there another 275 km were to be covered by bus.
After boarding on the train, at 12:30 am, we were so tired that we went straight to sleep and just woke up close to Varanasi, around 9 AM. We had tea from the train service, damn good by the way, and learned another interesting thing. The cups used to serve the tea, made of baked clay, were 'disposable'. After that we understood why there were so many broken clay cups trashed on the streets.
In the train station, somebody was waiting for us and brought us to the hotel where we rested from the trip. The traffic was, again, just like hell with all the odds we have already described.
In the afternoon, another driver picked us up at the hotel to take us to Sarnath, about 10 km away from Varanasi.
This is believed to be the place where Buddha preached his first sermon after he had attained enlightenment at Bodhgaya.
So, it is a pilgrimage place for the Buddhist and there were lots of monks walking around with their characteristic orange clothes.
After Sarnath, since Varanasi is the capital of silk, we visited a silk factory, and before that visit we thought that making a carpet was a lot of work, but making a silk bed cover for example is a much harder task to accomplish, because the silk is much much thinner then the wool used in carpets and also because of the design that is much richer in details. It is really complicated and and it can take months to get one done.
We saw all different types of silk and how they work with it. It was a very interesting visit. On the down side we had again to go through all their products one by one and bare this annoying selling strategy. Luckily I have Angie, and she can keep giving no's through out the whole repetitive selling show. And even though we didn't buy anything, this guide wasn't upset like the other one, that was nice. Enough of silk we wanted to start evaluating if it was reasonable or not to go to Nepal, so we went to the government Indian Tourist Bureau and also spoke with the tourist agency of our driver. We studied the several options to get to Kathmandu and Pokhara from Varanasi, but weren't sure yet about how safe it was regarding the Maoist issue in Nepal, so we postponed the decision to the next day. Before going back to the hotel, we stopped by the silk museum where they also sell all kinds of silk products; we saw all the stages of silk production. At the hotel, we experienced several blackouts and eventually there was no electricity anymore. It seems to be a common issue in Varanasi, as most of the hotels have diesel electricity generators.
3/18/05
The next morning we left at 5:30 am for a boat tour on the Ganga at sunrise.
The ancient city of Varanasi is the religious center of the world for Hindus. Thousands of pilgrims visit the city from all parts of India and from across the world. The unique relationship between the sacred river and the city is the essence of Varanasi, 'The land of sacred light'. The Ganga is believed to have flown from heaven to wash away the worldly sins of mankind.
The city was funded some 10 centuries before Christ and it is mentioned in the holy scriptures of Hindus and in Buddhist texts. The life and activities in the city revolves around the holy river. Life on the banks of the Ganga begins before dawn when thousands of pilgrims - men, women and children - come down to the river to wait for the rising sun. The people immerse in the sacred river and wash away their sins.
From our little boat we could see the famous Ganga scenes and hear the monks and priest singing and reciting their sacred texts. The pilgrims are not alone; there are also hundreds of tourists with their cameras ready to register everything.
That brings business into the river, souvenir boatshops are always around trying to catch the tourist attention, flowers with a little candle in the middle is the top seller, so that the people put it on the water as good luck.
The sunrise was beautiful; the red color of the sun and the reflection in the river was amazing.
Right beside the spot where people were bathing there is a place where bodies were being burned and the ashes poured in the Ganga.
The boatman told us that around 100 bodies get burned every day at that place. Also not so far from there, pipes are bringing waste from the city into the river, so the whole thing is quite filthy.
He also showed us the different palaces that used to belong to the different Maharajas that used to come to Varanasi regularly.
Once the boat tour finished, the boatman took us to the local market place, as usual he is also trying to make his commissions. The market is composed of lots of 5-feet wide streets close to the river. The smell in these streets is disgusting; there are excrements not only from the cows walking around but also from the people that poured everything in the streets. There is garbage everywhere on the floor and floating in that sticky mud. There are people walking around everywhere, some even barefoot!!!. We stopped at several little shops and saris making places. We were offered tea but in such place it is quite scary to eat or drink anything.... After lots of looking and nothing of buying, we went back to the car where the driver was waiting for us.
He took us to a very nice local restaurant for breakfast, a nice garden with several little huts made of dry grass, each hut with a dining table in it, really cute. After breakfast we had to take the decision whether to go or not to Nepal. We already knew how to get to Kathmandu and Pokhara but weren't sure about how safe it was, so we tried to contact some information centers in Nepal, but none of the phone numbers given by Lonely Planet worked. Since we read a few weeks before that the phone lines and internet got cut by the government, we were wondering if the numbers were wrong or if the phone lines in Nepal were still not working? We finally succeeded to contact the Nepalese embassy in New Delhi which told us that the political situation had improved and that life in Katmandu is back to normal. There was no curfew anymore and the roads were not blocked anymore by the Maoists, but they added, the situation could change at any moment. Also, they gave us some other numbers in Katmandu in case we wanted more info. We succeeded to call the French embassy in Nepal which told us the same thing. So we decided, although a bit scared, to book our trip to Katmandu and two nights of hotel. There, we would evaluate how dangerous it would be to go on a trek far from the city. Angelique again managed to negotiate down the price of our trip from Varanasi to Kathmandu do, poor travel agents have no chance with her. We then went back to the hotel to get ready for our trip to Nepal with was estimated to be accomplished in 20 hours. After everything was set, Angie suddenly started to feel sick. It was her first food poisoning on the trip, probably from our nice hut garden breakfast. She had a complete hit, throwing up having terrible pain and also diarrheas. At her worst, even the water she was drinking to rehydrate was being refused by the stomach and put out. Moreover, there was no electricity, so she spent her afternoon in a dark bathroom! But even though she had probably the most miserable afternoon of the trip, she did not want to cancel the trip to Nepal. So, on the next morning, 4 am she was feeling a bit better and we were on the way to Kathmandu, 350 km to be covered by car, up to the Nepalese border called Sonauli, from there another 275 km were to be covered by bus.
posted by Adriano and Angie | 7:01 AM
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