OzBus 14

Another dawn event on our trip, down by the river Ganges.  Luckily for us, we actually make it for sunrise and it’s a beautifully amazing and fascinating experience.  The river is a short drive away from the hotel and once we get there we have to walk a small distance as the road cannot accommodate our coach.  The walk itself is spectacular, with people of all sorts walking, bare foot, to the riverside.  Many make a pilgrimage to do what we were doing, and you could see some of those people within the short walk to the river.  Sandeep, takes us out on a local row boat for an hour tour of the river.  I didn’t expect to see so many events and different sights on the tour, but the sights I did see were something expected from the situation and it’s location.  The first thing that hits you is the colour; the sun rising on the shore while women and men riverside try their best to sell you as many things as possible.  The occasional stranger dressed in what looks like a traditional outfit crosses your path as you attempt to reach the dock.  There is a local ceremony that takes place at sunrise where they light candles, placed within dried leaves fabricated into little floating pods and filled with colourful petals and set them off into the river.  There are people on the riverbank constantly trying to sell you these candles, and you have to be either forgiving or blunt before getting into your boat.  Once finally on the boat, we head upstream to see some of the river and it’s people.  It’s not uncommon to see people bathing in the river, or cows for that matter.  What I didn’t expect to see was the local laundry service besides the yoga workout group.  Even stranger was the cremation ceremony further downstream and the dead body floating in the river.  These are not strange things to see for the locals, who, despite knowing what is in (and what goes in) the river, will continue to bathe under the impression that the water is holy.  Some say sceptical, I say realistic.  You will also find boats selling tourist tat and other tourists taking just as many photos as you are.  Holly and I manage to convince the boat owners to have a go at rowing (downstream, naturally), completing my morning workout.  With the sun fully risen, we head back to our coach as breakfast is waiting at the hotel.

Sandeep has planned a local tour for the rest of the day, with what sounded like a action-packed schedule; Buddha’s first temple, an archeological site from a few centuries ago, a silk production house and a former palace.  There was more than what the cover indicated though.  The temple was like many other temples we’d seen so far, except it’s main focus was, obviously, Buddhism.  Colourful and peaceful, it’s a very nice place to be, though the weather wasn’t making it easy for us to take in the sights.  The archeological site was similar; colourful and vast but the heat made it difficult to walk around leisurely.  We go into a museum related to the site just visited, but there is nothing else to mention other than the fact we went there.  Next stop, the silk production house.  Here we saw silk being made and the processes behind it’s construction and, to our surprise, a visit to the shop in store.  Although we were surprised, many of us like the products on sale and go ahead purchasing some fine silk.  Our next stop is the former palace.  It sounds interesting at first, but we then get there and find a derelict and tired looking building holding a carpet emporium and a tiny museum showing us the processes we’d just seen at the silk house.  Disappointed is not the right word to describe the feelings of the group.  Add the sweltering heat to the equation and it’s safe to say that many were annoyed.

Back at the hotel, we all sit in front of our air conditioning units for a while before deciding to head back to the Ganges for the sunset.  We hear that there is a ceremony at night after sunset and decide that it’s a good enough reason to head back to the hustle and bustle.  On the way to the river, Holly, Jerry and I are en route in a tuk-tuk when we have to make a stop due to a street carnival passing through.  With all the colours you can think of, music blearing out and people aplenty, Holly and I decide to get out of our tuk-tuk and take a picture or two.  While taking pictures, one of the locals invites me to have a dance with him, so I do.  Before I knew it, both Holly and I are dancing to the music, surrounded by everyone who are sprinkling us with petals and water, cheering us on and showing us dance moves.  Spontaneity is definitely recommended when out, if it wasn’t for that I wouldn’t have such a story.  Eventually we get back on our tuk-tuk, who had almost left us while we were dancing.  At the river, we find a spot to settle down to watch the sun setting and the crowd slowly build up.  The ceremony itself was a slow and musical affair, with people filling the banks of the river as well as mosquitos.  A few hours watching the show and some close time spent with a few cows, we head back to the hotel to get some dinner.

There was a bar in the hotel where we went for dinner.  As we all sat there we contemplated, over a few drinks, about where we were.  Varanasi had left a mark on us all, albeit different.  Some more positive than others, but the place had definitely left an impression and we all accept it as we prepare for our next country – Nepal.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 4th, 2010 at 9:17 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.