Varanasi
on Jane in India (India), 19/Apr/2011 17:28, 34 days ago
From Bodhgaya, via Gaya to the Holy City of Varanasi....Highlights:1. Witnessing a CREMATION at Manikarnika Ghat, which is an auspicious place to be cremated, where its believed you are liberated from the circle of life and death and go straight to heaven. People come to Varanasi to cremate their family members, or even to die themselves. Cremations go on day and night here. I saw an old woman wrapped in a white sheet being cremated under firewood. You could just see her grey hair coming out of the sheet and the outline of her body. It was something I didn't ever really expect to see, and I couldn't stop looking at her grey hair, quite an experience.2. The WINDING STREETS and crumbling buildings in the OLD CITY. SHOPPING in the little clothes shops and somehow buying lots of SILK I hadn't intended to!3. Little pieces of RELIGION everywhere - people touching a (holy) cow and blessing themselves, devoted men praying and chanting along the Ganges.morning yoga class4. BROWN BREAD BAKERY. Perfect chillout spot with lots of cushions, nice atmosphere and sometimes an old man playing the sitar in the corner. The food didn't live up to the promising menu, the service was unreliable but it was impossible to get angry at the young easy going waiters, and the whole cozy laziness meant you didn't mind spending hours over breakfast!5. GANGES at sunrise - people having their morning dip in Mother Ganga, laundry guys washing clothes, people praying and meditating along the steps of the ghats. The thing that's hard to get your head around is that people bathe and drink from the same water that they throw their dead into. The bodies of Brahmin priests, children, pregnant women and cows are sent into the river while the rest are cremated. On top of that, so much sewerage, plus...hmm, such extreme faith is baffling.sunrise on the river Gangesbathers in the Ganges6. My housemate Terri mixing up water bottles and accidentally taking a SWIG OF GANGES WATER!! (yes the same 'pure' water as I mentioned above...mmm. She is still alive, and perhaps more pure because of it, who knows!)Varanasi is very interesting. I can't say it was the most pleasant trip ever - because of intense heat, bouts of feeling ill, "eve-teasing" and some soul-destroying train journeys either side - but all in all I found it fascinating, definitely somewhere I won't forget. BBQs won't be the same again, but hey at least I'm veggie :)barber shop in the streetlive music on our last night in Varanasi