Varanasi by Steve

Varanasi is said to be the oldest living city and our friend Krystina says it is the place she feels most alive; our experience most certainly has been of a city full of life. After the relative peace and quiet of Kerala and the out-of-the-way, rural places we visited, the rush, and crowds and noise and congestion of Varanasi seem ten times more vibrant and exciting and scary. Everywhere is teeming with life. The lanes are jammed with people, bicycles, cycle rickshaws, scooters, and as this is the holy city, everywhere there are cows and water buffaloes. To add to the confusion, the old city is made up of tiny, winding lanes hemmed in by countless stalls selling everything from chai to silk saris to bicycle tires to coconuts and flower garlands for religious offerings.

The famous Ghats, which are stone steps that Hindus use to get into the River Ganges for a ritual bath, stretch out for over a mile of shoreline. Walking along the Ghats one sees religious devotees ranging from fat Brahmin priests in crisp white dhotees, to skinny sadhus in saffron robes with dreadlocks smeared with ashes, to middle class families from Bombay wearing jeans, to mourning families hunched around the burning corpse. The constant noise of horns and bicycle bells is punctuated by the shouts from touts offering rickshaws, boat rides, visits to their silk shops, guest house, hashish… Yes, Varanasi can be a sensory overload.

The original plan had us staying in Varanasi for three days but that was extended to six days as we couldn’t get on the flight we wanted. Although I was keen for the family to experience the incredible energy of Varanasi, I find that the cities are tough to visit with the kids, what with all the traffic, crowds and other hazards so I feared that six days would be too long. However, thanks to our friends, Krystina and her brother Mark, our stay was very relaxing. They arranged an apartment for us in a residential neighbourhood, showed us some of the key sights and recommended some great restaurants. We ended up spending lots of time shopping and eating. Our favourite hang out was a lovely place called the Open Hand which served excellent fair trade coffee and fresh fruit salad in a charming atmosphere created by beautiful silk cushions, curtains, table covers, all of which were for sale. Since coming to India we haven’t really done much shopping as I always said I didn’t want to haul heavy suitcases on and off trains for a month. Well, our train travel was over, and once we knew we were allowed 30kg of baggage on the flight to Kathmandu, there was no stopping us. As well as the silk, we spent a couple of pleasant afternoons at a material and tailor shop getting fitted and selecting colours for shirts, pants, and skirts to wear for the next stages of the trip.

Leaving Varanasi we had another set of extremes. Our 9:30 am taxi was late and we took forever to get through horrible traffic jams so we were late getting to the airport, and the crowds were lined up out the door, so I was a bit tense. However, my cousin Joe’s connection in Delhi had arranged business class tickets, so we zoomed straight up to the special counter where the agent got us the best seats for the views of the mountains and an hour later we were sitting in extra wide seats, sipping drinks served on starched white napkins, gazing at the snow capped Himalayan Mountains where we will soon be trekking.