Varanasi, India (Post #68)
Today is Tuesday, December 13, 2005…Michele here. We have been trying to cram in a lot here in India in the 2 weeks we have so we have had little time for blogging. Plus, power outages are frequent here in India so at least once we had planned to go to the Internet to post something but there was a city-wide black out. Since we last blogged….
We left on an overnight train from Delhi to Varanasi, India on Tuesday, December 6th. Before leaving we had a driver for the afternoon who showed us some sights we had not seen yet in Delhi. It was a great afternoon and we saw some cool things. The story behind us getting a driver is a long and ugly one and you should read Mike’s blog (Post #67) to get the full story about our unethical travel agent and all his tricks. (I actually don’t even like thinking about this guy and whenever I do, I try to put him out of my mind immediately.)
So, we got our train ticket about 15 minutes before we were leaving. (This should have been a red flag – again, read Post #67). We got dropped off at the train station in Delhi and it was a total zoo. I mean, hundreds of people all crammed together on the platform – some were homeless people living there, others were trying to find which train they were supposed to be on, others were selling things, and everyone was pushing and shoving. We were all crammed on the platform like sardines. Mike and I had no idea which car of the train we were supposed to get on and among this huge mass of people there were no train station employees so we watched what other people were doing. Hmmm…ok…they seemed to be looking on pieces of paper taped to the individual cars of the train. We had our seat numbers so we started doing the same thing. The problem was that the trains were very long (as many as 20 or more cars) so it took some time to look at all these pieces of paper. And remember we are pushing our way through crowds of people and are jammed in with 20 other people trying to look at the same piece of paper we are. Finally! We see our names and get on the train. My first impression was, “Oh, my God, there is no way this is first class.” Well, it turned out I thought we had agreed with our travel agent that we would be traveling first class but clearly, I was wrong. I couldn’t believe, this was going to be our overnight train. It was incredibly dilapidated and dirty and there were mice running around on the floor.
We found our bunks and it turned out we would be sharing our area with an obese man and his wife and child. This overnight train ride now ranks as our #1 worst accomodation to date. The man, who probably weighed 30o+ pounds, was snoring, grunting, coughing, and spitting up into a towel all night. When he wasn’t doing these things he was yelling in his sleep, slapping himself, or waving his arms in the air. Whenever he started yelling, his wife, on the lower bunk, would yell at him to stop yelling. Needless to say, Mike and I were both awake almost the entire night. We were dog tired when we arrived in Varanasi, India.
We had arranged a pickup and immediately saw the guy. We went to the hotel and got the bed room they had ($20/night). The room was very nice. It had a bathroom, it was clean, and there was a balcony with a view of the Ganges river. Now, when I say it had a view of the river, I mean it had a view of the river plus a view of huge piles of garbage that pigs, water buffalo, cows, and dogs were constantly eating out of. By the river there were also two small temples where people came to pray. The roofs were pointy, the temples were yellow, orange, and pink, and they had small flags all around them. It all made for a very interesting view.
Varanasi, is a very special place in India. It is where people go to die because it is considered one of India’s most sacred places. The Ganges, or “Mother Ganga”, India’s holiest river, flows through Varanasi. For a Hindu to die in Varanasi , and to be cremated here on the banks of the Ganga, is to be absolved of karma, freed from the wheel of reincarnation and absorbed into the Infinite. The Ganga river is also polluted by raw sewage and charred human and animal remains. Cows and certain individuals (such as pregnant women and small children) who die are not cremated but instead are simply tied to a stone and their bodies are dumped into the river. Despite how dirty and polluted the Ganga is, there are hundreds of people who drink the water, brush their teeth with it, and bath in it every day.
We arrange a sunrise boat ride on the Ganga the following morning and observe people bathing, practing yoga, and performing rituals and prayers at the base of the ghats. The ghats are wide stone steps that people walk down to get to the river. Here is a picture of one of the ghats.
Our boatman shows us the Marnikarnika burning ghat, where bodies are burning and only male family members observe the cremations. Later, we would see a body being carried through the streets of Varanasi on its way to the burning ghat and we also saw a body on a bamboo stretcher being dumped into a river. People dying and being cremated and dumped into the river happens many times a day in this city. It’s o.k. for travelers to watch (but out of respect photography is prohibited). We learn a lot from our boatman, who is 20 years old and is happy to be practicing his English. We agree to meet him later at night to go to a festival at the main ghat. The festival celebrates the life of “Mother Ganga” (the river) and happens only once a year. Here is a picture of the festival.
The next two days we spend walking around Varanasi and soaking up the atmosphere. Walking along the river, past the ghats, brings something new with each step. There are many monkeys, goats, cows, dogs, pigs, and water buffalo walking on the same path we are. There are also animals pooping all over the place and people urinating everywhere. There are small, poor, dirty, children, selling flowers and candles to be set afloat in the river for good karma, and there are children scooping up cow poop and making patties for later use as fuel. At one point, a child offers to sell us flowers and candles over and over again and after we decline repeatedly, she finally says, “Photo for 2 rupees?” (Two rupees = 5 cents). I agree and take her picture. It is hard for me to see so many desperate children. I feel so bad for all of them and want to rescue them from this horrid life but realize there is probably little I can do. Here she is:
When we were not walking along the ghats, we would go into the main town. This town has a zoo-like atmosphere and the bazaar (shop) areas are especially hectic. The streets are filled with people, animals, bicycles, bicycle rickshaws, motor rickshaws, scooters, motorcycles, cars, and buses. It is crazy! Here is a picture:
Tomorrow we will post another blog…stay tuned!
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Tags: Category #19: India
Michele Harmon
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