Varanasi. India's holiest city for Hindu Pilgrims

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  Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Day one in Varanasi and after a good nights rest am off to find the Ganges. Ok so Varanasi is an ancient medieval town with hundreds of twisty windy lanes. Ok so I walked for nearly 4 hours and have still not seen the river.The temperature is about 37 degrees. I am lost but having fun. Just as I arrive back at my hotel there is a major thunderstorm and within minutes the streets are flooded and the rubbish is everywhere. At least it cools down but I am exhausted after the last few days so plan on an early morning boat ride to see the sun rise. Wake up call is ate 4.30am.

Varanasi is where the Hindu come to bath in the Ganges. It ia a place of pilmgrage and parts of the city are thousands of years old. They also come to cremate the recently deceased and sprimkle ashes in the river. Along the waterfront there are more than 280 Ghats or bathing areas which are  steone steps leading down to the river. These are approached from the main road through narrow cobbled lanes. Each Ghat has a name and belongs to a group or sect of hinduism. Some are modern but most are ancient buildings. Some are for woman only, others for families aend some have holy men waiting to counsil the needy. Two of the ghats are cremation sites. The distance from one end to the other is about 8 km. The Ganges is about 400 m wide and is possibly the most polluted river I have ever seen

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100 year old rickshaw driver	Varanasi Lanes	Varanasi Lanes	The Ghats
Afternoon Downpour	Scooter sound system	Statue Carvers just using an angle grinder	Completed statures
Tree groweing on side of house	I dont know what goes on here?   Comments!

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