Varanassi, India

We crossed the Border from Nepal to India by land, check out our blog post "Nepal to India by land Border crossing" for details on our difficult Journey getting into India.

"lets make a flower open up in everyone's heart"

We checked in at Hotel Alka and got straight to a power nap as we had to check out in 4 hours. Only being here for a few hours we weren't here long enough to really review it, although it was clean and located in a prime location it was more hostel style with a shared bathroom and no A/C which we recommend you get especially if you are there in August

After checking out we walked just across the ally to the hotel we had booked for the next night, Ganpati Guest house in which we got their balcony suite with a view of the Ganges River. This was a well located hotel right in the heart of Varanasi, as it was located just above the Ganges, we just had to walk down the stair way of the hotel and we were at the River where several locals waited at their boats to give tours of the Ghats.

Day #1: Walking through the ally ways of Varanasi there are so many thoughts such as.... "how cute are these cows", "will this bull kick me if I get too close", "watch out for the cow patty", "ohh look at that mountain goat", I think I might vomit if I open my mouth, "can female cows have horns like a bull", why have I never seen a water buffalo before, "that smells amazing.. what is it!?"...etc. Due to the large amount of pollution and animal feces surrounding us we decided we should stick to one place to eat that had amazing reviews : The Brown Bread Bakery - which turned our heads when we were reading through our lonely planet guide and we saw vegan options :)

On the walk there though I had at least 3 moments in which I actually thought I would vomit, mostly because Dan would keep asking me "would you rather..." questions as were walking by very smelly areas which would then lead me to gag on the smell or thought that I swallowed a bug. Needless to say... if you're going to Varanasi bring a mask and definitely be prepared as I don't think there is anyplace I've been that even compares to it.

The food however was absolutely delicious, we actually ended up eating here several times during our 3 days in Varanasi, they even have a breakfast buffet and live music most nights!

After Lunch we wandered the allies and streets of Varanasi going through their food market and some small shops with souvenirs. They have a large market that is indoors or rather a large area of shops covered by tarps that is extremely chaotic jammed full with people, we started to go through but ended up leaving within a few minutes.

Due to us being there in August which is their monsoon season we weren't able to fully walk down the Ganges as you can during their dryer seasons so we walked mostly above the stair ways by that hotels and restaurants and then would make our way down the stairs when there was an opening trying not to make any of these large bulls or mountain goats mad.

Hindus believe that they can gain freedom and peace in the afterlife at the sacred Ganges River, on a daily basis you will see hundreds of people bathing in the Ganges water, drinking the water, and being cremated at the Burning Ghats along the Ganges River. I was absolutely amazed by this, if you have seen pictures... this water is FILTHY, yet you see so many people rejoicing and celebrating that they have made it here to this holy body of water.

Dan booked a night boat tour leaving at 6:30pm that took us along the Ganges, this was a beautiful way to see the Ghats compared to by land, we were able to obtain a completely different perspective. Our boat drive was less that helpful however, he wasn't able to really tell us the names of the Ghats or any background on the ceremonies at hand- it may have been better to book one of these boat tours from a local after we arrived as they may have been more informative.

During the boat tour there are children running around selling these paper bowls filled with flower petals and a candle in the center that you are to light and send down the Ganges, it is seen as an offering to the Goddess Ganga.

After our night boat ride along the ghats we decided to check out the cremation ghat up close so we wandered to Manikarnika Burning Ghat. Where we ended up meeting a young man who's English was very good. He insisted on walking us down to the burning ceremonies and giving us a bit of a history lesson, although he insisted we do not give him any money.

He taught us the background of cremations at the burning ghats, as you will only see mostly men at these it is because it is frowned upon to cry at these ceremonies as it is more of a celebration that the person is now free. Also the family of the deceased wears all white. Depending on your class reveals what the body will be burnt in -- high class is wrapped in gold. The body is dipped in the ganges water about an hour prior to being burnt to bless the body once more. The bodies are put on a platform of wood that is burnt along with the body- again the type of wood is based on the persons class high class being cedar.

The bodies will burn for 3 hours, at this time on a woman's body the pelvis will remain -- he stated this was due to the women's ability to birth a child this is her strongest asset and on a man his chest bone will still remain because this is where men carry their strength. We were able to walk right up near the cremations, the smell of a burning body is one I don't think I will be able to forget, as this was a remarkable experience. From here he took us to an abandoned roof top where we could watch over the 3 cremations that were happening simultaneously, the mourning familes, and the clouds of black smoke rising in the sky over the Ganges.

After he took us to a hospice building next door- this is what he said, we are not totally sure that this is true, it could have very well been a scam. However we had learned so much from this young man we did not mind, he introduced us to the care taker/nurse of this hospice home who we donated some small bills to and she blessed us. This was truly an amazing experience and I would not skip this if you find your self in Varanasi... despite the filthy overpopulated city it is an experience I don't believe you will be able to find anywhere else in the world.

Day #2: 04:00 am we were up and headed for our previously booked morning boat tour along the Ganges. We were with 2 other American Men on the tour, again the boat driver was the same young kid that was not informative at all. We stopped at Assi Ghat for Ganga Aarti, a morning ritual preformed daily at 04:30am , our guide was not able to tell us what the ceremony is for, however the translation is "Prayer for the River Ganges."

There were 7 monks lined up along the stair way of the Ghat with flames burning from the lamps they held in their hands. The air smelled of incense and music was playing in the background. At the end of the ceremony they each walked down into the Ghat filled up a cup with some of the Ganges water and drank it.

We packed our bags and had the concierge desk at the hotel hold our luggage up front since our flight out was not until later in the evening.

We headed back to the Brown Bread Bakery for their breakfast buffet -- we highly recommend! From here we continue to walk to look at the Ghats we were unable to make it to the previous day.

We decided to cool off at Blue Lassi as it was highly recommended in Lonely planet as the best Lassi, so we had to give it a shot... and let me tell you, it was DELICIOUS and there were endless options. I got pomegranate and dan got mango coconut. They serve their Lassi in a ceramic made clay pot with a wooden spoon and after you finish they have a bucket that you slam the clay pot in to break it into pieces.

Our flight out was at 7:30pm however as we have mentioned before... The population in this city is insane! The hotel worker told us to leave at least 3 hours prior to our flight departure as it could take up to 2 hours to make it the 15 miles to the air port. We opted for a Tuk-Tuk as they seemed like they can make it through traffic a bit easier than cars being smaller and able to weave through the traffic.

We did have a bit of an issue checking in for our flight as they are the only airport that refused to let us check our 50L Osprey Backpacks saying that the shoulder straps could get stuck and rip open our bags, they wouldn't let us accept the risk instead insisted that we get them wrapped with saran wrap to secure the straps- some people always do this we however don't, we find it to be the biggest waste of plastic for no reason as we both had backpack covers. But we couldn't argue our way out of it so we each paid about $2 USD to have them wrapped in order to continue on with our flight. This put us close to the departure of our flight so the man that insisted they be wrapped escorted us through the airport security so we could avoid lines.

We landed in Kolkata around 9pm and got a Uber to Hotel Kempton, this was a beautiful hotel that greeted us with a welcoming drink.