Varanasi: India at its purest

[Small introduction to the chaotic moving world on the highways of India]

It’s 12am and a taxi leaves us on the side of the road next to a small restaurant/shop where a man and his son are getting some naans ready for the early drivers. We hop off the taxi and look at each other in a kind of “Is this really the place?” style. Thanks to Google Maps the taxi-driver ensure us this is the correct address:

“Yes yes, bus here !”

After we pay him, he wanders off in the night leaving us here waiting for the famous bus to Varanasi in a supposedly existing bus station. Ready to sell, the owner of the place invite us to sit down and wait at a table till the arrival of the bus; a naan, a bottle of water, some sweets ? We just have to ask. In the meanwhile, left with nothing but high hopes its game time: ready, steady, cards!

We all know that there are just a certain numbers of games you can play with cards, right ? Well after having played all the games we knew, we start to think that either the bus has gone past or we got the place wrong. As time passes the feeling of being in the wrong place intensifies; unsure on what to do, we start asking the several people stopping by but all we get is more questions. A couple of hours go by and we end up begging a car driver to call the bus company (obviously an English help center was not a thing at the time). Well, at the end of the day the guy managed to get the phone number of the bus driver itself and after a quick call tells us that we’re in the right place but the bus had an issue and is going to get here an hour late. Wow… at least we haven’t lost it !

El bus por Varanasi

At 3am finally we manage to get on the right bus and after a quick happy Indian greetings the crew shows us our little sleep-compartment where we are supposed to stay for the next 14hrs. Wanna know the funny thing ? The moment we open our compartment we find out that there’s a man sleeping in our spot… with the heart in our hands we wake him up and tell him that we reserved that place for the trip, luckily he understands and let us set up camp there. Lastly, after some stops for drinks, food and relax we arrive at our destination: Varanasi !!

El ghat principal llamado “Dashashwamedh”

At a first glimpse Varanasi is the embodiment of craziness. The chaotic lifestyle, crowded streets, warmth, honking traffic and garbage everywhere welcome us immediately. While trying to find our accommodation, a random guy on the road (half drunk) offer himself to guide us there but after having followed us for some time we manage to run off. The city center of Varanasi is literally a huge labyrinth of small alleys, narrow roads and thousands of little yards scattered in every corner. Luckily, after some asking we arrive at our accommodation “booked” through couch-surfing: a Yoga Training Centre. I’m excited to get to know some locals from Varanasi but especially to be able to try do some yoga during our short stay.

Uno de los muchos perros callejeros

At our arrival, Sunil (the owner of the place) is waiting for us and warmly welcome us… with an edgy news: if we want to sleep for free there (what couch surfing is all about, exchanging experiences between host and traveller) we have to pay for at least a yoga class per day. I was already planning in taking some yoga classes anyway but using couch-surfing to take advantage of travelers like us is very disappointing.

Un hombre dando una bendición en el Ganges

n the end, I decide to take a class today so that we can sleep there (and leave the luggages) for a night and tomorrow we’ll see if its worth to stay more days in this forgotten-hostel-like room. Oh did I mention that during the night both Sunil and his daughter came to sleep in two of the four beds of the room… well apart from this, Sunil is very kind and give us very useful information on how to move around, explain us a few things and most of all organize us a trip with the boat to see the Dev Deepawali, a ceremony that takes place every night at the main ghat. That same night, we also end up having dinner with Sunil’s family (paying a little contribution).

Monges de Varanasi

With our bus arriving during early morning, we have now plenty of time for exploration ! After a little walking here and there we see the famous Bred Brown Bakery (we remember reading about it somewhere) and so we decide to stop for a break. Vegetarian hamburgers, sandwiches, omelettes and organic Nepalese cheese are just few of the amazing dishes they offer ! Definitely a must go ! Anddddd back to the road, with our bellies full we start the hardcore exploration throughout the Old City; the roads are squishy, cows cross our path more than once, dogs can be seen smelling every little corner and people walking look like a river. So much happening !

Navegando en el Ganges

Another thing to know about Varanasi is the river: the Gange. In addition of being holy the river also happens to be the most contaminated in the world. The people there with the excuse of sending blessing to the river they just fill it with garbage and bodies… yeah, in case you didn’t know, in the same waters where people bath, drink, swim and send blessing to there are dead bodies floating around. In fact, for those people who don’t have enough money to cremate their loved ones who passed away, the only other choice to make so that the body/soul is blessed is to throw the body in the river (and I mean the whole body).

También se puede rezar desde el barco

Remember, if you go to Varanasi DO NOT MISS seeing the sunrise from a boat sailing the Gange; being there so early in the morning its an amazing experience. As the city wakes up, the voices of people going to pray, work or just leave to catch a train, slowly take place of the silence. On a side note, keep in mind that you will need to dedicate at least one night to the Dev Deepawali ceremony taking place at the Dashashwamedh Ghat (main ghat) every night. Attending the ceremony both from the water or land is equally fascinating. Several men doing a ritual to pray for the peace in the world, traditional instruments playing, kids selling flower blessings, lit candles floating in the river and amazing choreographies with fire and incense make the whole thing awfully good. And don’t you worry about booking a place for a boat, several people will stop you as you pass by the ghat and ask you if you want to attend the event. Just make sure to pay no more than x and to be there early in order to get a boat closer to the ceremony as the whole thing will be packed with boats (and I mean you can actually move from boat to boat).

Un vendedor de bendiciónes

Observe the creativity and chaos of this city from one of the rooftop terraces scattered around the river side. Varanasi has plenty to offer; beautiful, odd and faithful, it’s the city of the opposites. In other words, wildly optimistic.

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