If you couldn't tell, we really liked Varanasi. Here are a few more of our favorites.
Because where else can you have a monkey with a gun, a tranced out
sadhu, and a bunch of kids all in the same photo?
A view of the main ghat from a nearby hotel balcony.
Yes. Another sadhu. These guys are awesome.
Our hilarious boatman who conned us into riding with him for two days.
Although the below video doesn't even begin to show the goings-on in an Indian street at 8 AM on a Tuesday, it might give a brief idea. This auto rickshaw driver was incredibly proud of his new sound system, and cranked it up to get us excited for the journey to the train station.
For more poorly filmed and extremely low quality, boring Varanasi videos (are you excited yet?), check out the YouTube links here, here, and here.
"How old is that building?" Liz asked our boatman, as we rowed past one of the many palaces along the Ganges, India's most sacred river. "It's been there since the beginning of time" he replied, in all seriousness. We laughed and grinned at each other, but after some thought, we realized our boatman wasn't too far off. Varanasi, formerly called Benares, is one of the oldest cities in the world. Even ask Mark Twain, as we noted in our previous update.
The holy river, called "the Ganga," flows through the city center, and is the hub of life in this town. Pilgrims come from across the country to make puja (offer prayers) in its holy waters. Many Hindus and Buddhists in India make this their final pilgrimage, as their bodies are carried by their families to the cremation ghats on the riverbank, their ashes ultimately committed to the waters. Having seen the cremation practice at the Hindu temple in Kathmandu, we were familiar with the ritual that takes many visitors to the area by surprise. Unfortunately, these cremations have become a sort of morbid tourist attraction. In addition to prayer and cremation, the river is used by all people to perform daily tasks such as brushing one's teeth, bathing, washing clothes, and even washing your herd of water buffalo.
Really. We weren't kidding about the burning trash.
This action along the water's edge is best observed by a peaceful rowboat, and we took advantage of the opportunity on several occasions. Unfortunately, a few boatmen took advantage of us as well, charging us double the going rate ($4), but it's to be expected in India. And, while a lot of the action is on the water, the labyrinth of streets behind are as fascinating as they are disorienting. With the average width of the alleyway being around 5 feet wide, we enjoyed the challenge of dodging fast moving motorcycles, piles of sticky manure, massive cows, and burning piles of garbage, all encountered numerous times on the short walk to our hotel.
Liz with a coffee banana lassi in Varanassi.
Anything can be found in the narrow alleyways of the city, from temples to clothing, to the amazing lassi stall where we were served incredible homemade yogurt drinks, somehow chilled despite the heat. We even have a lovely video of the guy who made them for us. But reality is never more than a blink away. As we enjoyed our freshly created beverages in the street, we watched as several bodies passed within inches of our clay cups, their singing families carrying them in the direction of the funeral pyre at the river. India has a very "in your face" style about life...its harshness, its beauty...and death...is out in the open and on the streets, particularly in a city like Varanasi, where dying is equivalent to salvation, as long as you're burned with wood and your ashes reach the holy waters of the Ganges. It's a messy, raw reality that's one of the most intense places we've visited, and that we would love to someday visit again...while we're still alive.
Bodies burn, mourners mourn, and boats full of wood for the next fires await nearby on the holy Ganges.
A pilgrim ponders life from the riverside.
Liz poses with a sadhu covered in ashes.
A monkey with a gun holds up a crowd of children at an impromptu show in a narrow Varanasi street.
The city of Varanasi, formerly known as Benares, is the spiritual capital of India and one of the holiest pilgrimage sites for Hindus. Built along the banks of the sacred Ganges River, the ancient settlement is a place people have traveled to for centuries. They come for miles around to bathe, to pray, and most importantly, to burn their dead on massive ghats that line the shore. The ashes of the departed are then washed into the holy Ganga in hopes of attaining salvation. The religious significance of the city and river attract countless Sadhus, or holy men, such as the one above we saw strolling along the shores. It's one of the country's most impressive scenes, one that Mark Twain famously called "older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together."
Women in the Varanasi Welfare Foundation sewing class hone their embroidery skills.
You never know who or what you'll find in India. While this makes for serendipitous traveling, it unfortunately also makes locating quality volunteer projects difficult as well. Not that there isn't a desperate need for help here--India is home to nearly one-third of the world's poor. And with 3.3 million registered NGOs, there are lots of charitable organizations to choose from. Yet sadly, the nation's non profit sector is rife with fraud and corruption. There are good organizations out there, however, as we discovered one morning while battling the chaos of the train station in Varanasi. While at the station, we were fortunate enough to meet Linda Cooper, a warm and friendly British expat. After Linda helped us sort out our train (figuring out railroad schedules in India is painful), we chatted with her about what she does in India. She told us about the non-profit that she works with to help disadvantaged women and invited us to visit their organization's office, which happened to be nearby. Located in the Cantonment area of Varanasi, the Varanasi Welfare Foundation is down a quiet (quiet for India) dirt road, in the basement of a building behind a few hotels. As we walked in, we were greeted first with the voices of chattering women, and then by the friendly handshake of John Baptiste, one of the teachers at the foundation.
The organization benefits disadvantaged women and girls of the Varanasi area by providing a place, teachers, and materials for them to learn marketable skills that, Linda hopes, will lead them to sustainable employment. John Baptiste was thrilled we stopped in, and immediately introduced us to his class in the computer lab. We got to sit down and work with the girls on their project for the day, creating a PowerPoint slideshow using moving graphics. We were impressed! And the girls, at first shy, were proud to show us what they had accomplished.
Big thanks to Linda and John Baptiste for letting us visit their organization and meet all the ladies they're helping. We had a blast.
