And on to Varanassi
Trip Start
Feb 06, 2007
1
17
21
Trip End
Aug 25, 2007
Varanassi, India
Thursday, June 14, 2007
So I was doing that until the 11th. On the 12th, I took a night bus to Delhi. It left at 4:30 (until then I just lazed around and enjoyed the comforts of Old Manali). I couldn't get a sleeper, so I settled for a seat, which was fairly comfterable. The bus was having serious issues, it kept stopping and for quite a while wasn't going more than 10km an hour. We didnt' get to Delhi until 11:30 the next day!!! am. It's supposed to take 15 hours, but oh well. Then I got an auto to the train station with a couple other travelers. My train didn't leave until that evening, but my tickets had gotten a bit torn and I was worried I might have trouble with them. And boy did I ever.
So first off, the train station was packed jam full. Apparantly there is an airworkers strike on so everyone is trying to take trains and they're nuts. But I found the foreingers help place, which was so lovely, air conditioned and what not. I waited in a couple different lines, trying to get people to help me who sent me to wait in other lines. After a while of this, someone told me I had to go to a different building, where Indians book their tickets, since my tickets were issued in Kolkata. So I went to look for this building, got swarmed by touts, came back and got directions again, finally found the building about 5 minutes away. So I waited in the Ladies queue, for a while, then got sent to line 201, waited there, was sent to 202. There, some really nice person let me jump the line, which is the sort of foreigners privelege I wouldn't usually pull but at that point I was about to burst into tears and was just barely holding it together. So I got to the person at the front of that line, who told me I had to write an application for a new ticket. So he gave me a peice of paper and dictated me to write "I have lost my ticket. My particulars are as under" except the dictating wasn't very easy as I was having a hard time with the accent and he and all the people around seemed to think that if they shouted it whatever it was I was supposed to be writing I would get it, so I had all these people shouting things I couldn't understand at me to write down, it was rather trying. But eventually I got my application written. And then he charged me half the first ticket price to replace, and onyl 20 rupees for the second, go figure. It seemed pretty steep to me but at that point I wouldn't have even known how to go about arguing. And all through this, various other people would shove their way in to buy a ticket or start having heated discussions with the man behind the counter and so on.
Anyways, by the time I finally got my tickets replaced (lesson learned, never rip your tickets)it was almost 4, and I really didnt' ahve time to go to Chadni Chowk, which I was so upset about because I really really wanted to go over there to the spice market and what not. So that was so disapointing. I decided to put my bag in teh cloak room and go wander in the market a bit, but the cloak room man was most unhelpful, and wouldn't let me leave my bag, dont' nkwo why. So I with some difficulty located the cloak room at the main station, who also wouldn't let me leave my bag, apparantly they were closing but they were open when I came back an hour and a half later. So I set off into the market with my bag. I'd pulled myself together at that point but sill wasn't feeling any too intrepid or adventurous. I found a very western cafe to eat at, and happpened to run into the same travlers I'd taken the auto with. I chatted with them fror a bit and got something to eat (I hadn't eaten since lunch the day before except for chai) Then picked up some snacks for the train and headed back to the station. Found my train. the Station was insane, at the unreserved section there were absolute hoards of people trying to get on. I had no clue which was the place to stand for ac 2teir (my class) and there were guards herding people around with sticks and I was really scared they were going to hit me with their sticks, but they didn't, they were really nice to me actually and showed me where to go.
Someone had told me that going 2 teir wasn't worth the extra money, and I had debated goign sleeper class but I am SO glad that I didn't, it really was worth the price. It was very nice, with the air conditioning, and they gave you sheets and a blanket and a pillow case and a towel, it was considerably nicer than plenty of hotels I'd stayed at, which was excatly what I needed at the moment. They even sold supper on the train, which I bought mostly out of curiousity (it was terrible, about like airplane food). I got a really good sleep, and it was just all round great.
I got to Varanassi this morning. A girl I was on the train with and I took a cycle to the river ghats (the drivers are crazy, there was almost a brawl when we tried to get one, they were fighting and pushing each other to get over to us, so we just walked away and found one in a calmer place). I wandered around looking for the hotel I wanted to stay at, which is some challenging in the streets here. They are like a maze, its crazy. I finally found the place I had picked out of the book, they raved about it, but it ave me such a creepy feeling I saw the rooms and left, which I've never done before just based on the atmosphere. I found a different one, which I'm quite happy with, the building is not exactly welcoming and cheerful feeling but the room itself is lovely. Not the cleanest, but it has a bathroom and a balcony with a view of the river, and that's what I was looking for.
And it's been raining all morning, so I looked out my window for a bit, took a quick nap,got some breakfast, and ducked in here to catch up on some emailing. I'm here until the 17th, when I head back to Calcutta. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for 4 days here, but I'm sure I'll find lots to do. I think I could spend a lot of time wandering the ghats, which is my plan for the rest of the day. And recovering from Delhi :)
xoxo Em
