Varanassi

  Varanassi, India
Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Hi,

Today I left Khajuraho for my trip to Varanassi. First I took a bus to Satna (3,5 hours) and from there I had to take the train to Varanassi. In the bus I met three girls from Paris who are going to Varanassi as well. When we arrived at the train station our train was delayed so we had to wait on the train station for four hours. Finally our train leaves at 23:05 and I had a softsleeper which I shared with an Indian father and son.

I arrived at 7:30 am at Varanassi's train station and together with the French girls we took a tuktuk to Assi ghat. We stay in Temple on ganges with a good view on the Ganges from the rooftop.

Varanassi, the city of Shiva is one of the holiest places in India and oldest living cities in the world. Hindu pelgrims come to bathe in the water of the ganges, a ritual that washesaway all sins. The city is an auspicies place to die, since expiring here offers mosha-liberation from the cycle of birth and death.It's a magical city where the most intimate rituals of life and death take place in public on the city's famous ghats. In the past, the city has been known as Kashi and Benares, but it's present name is a restoration of an ancient name meaning the city between two rivers- the Varuna and Assi.

The next day we left on 5:30 for a boatride on the Ganges. Lots of people are washing themselves or their clothes, are praying or doing yoga exercises.We also go to Manikarnika ghat which is the oldest and most sacred burning ghat in Varanassi. It's no problem to watch cremations but don't take pictures and be respectful.Underway we also see death people floating in the river. After the lunch we went to Sarnat which is a holy place for budhists.

Today (October 20th) I walked along the ghats and visited the main Bazar. In the evening I went to an Indian dance and music show in the hotel.
Good music with some lovely dancers.