Varanasi, India

I think Varanasi was the most unique and bizarre places I visited during my entire year in Southeast Asia. It wasn’t like anything I have ever seen before. Shelby described it in a very interesting way, “It’s like farm meets jewels meets dump”. As soon as we got there, we saw cows, cows, and more cows. Along with the cows, there were stray dogs, goats, cats, roosters, you name it! All these cows and stray animals roaming the streets made the roads absolute chaos. Every form of transportation covered the streets – Tuk-Tuks, cow carriages, cars, buses, motor bikes, bicycles. I still do not know how we managed to leave without a scratch. The ‘jewels’ stand for the absolutely beautiful saris the women would wear and the spectacular temples we visited. And the ‘dump’ represents the piles and piles of garbage that covered the roads and every crevice of the city. Shelbs in Varanasi Typical We had read in the Lonely Planet that our guesthouse was hard to find, but it definitely didn’t prepare us in the slightest for the maze we were about to endure. All the guesthouses were in alleyways that were filled with garbage, cow poop, beggars, motorbikes, shops, food, colourful market stores, oh and of course the cows made an appearance. It really was just a mix of everything. Once we took a few wrong turns and jumped over a bunch of cows, we finally found the guesthouse we were looking for. The guesthouse only cost us $2 a night!!! This included a private room, a double bed and our very own washroom! Not too shabby. There was also an adorable rooftop patio restaurant, where we ended up spending a lot of our time during the unbearably hot days. The meals cost $3 on average. Just one of the many shops that were way too overwhelming One of our new friends from the market...sweet shirt The first thing we did was explore the riverside, known as the famous Holy Ganges River. This is the river where the ashes from cremated bodies are dumped. That doesn’t seem to stop the locals from bathing and swimming in the water though. The locals treated the river as if it were a beach, which was absolutely shocking since the water appeared to be extremely polluted. Also, I don’t think I would want to swim in the same water as a bunch of cremated bodies. Yikes. Shelby being blessed in the Ghat We made sure to watch the burning of one of the bodies at a Ghats along the riverside. (We weren’t allowed to take pictures) The family carried the dead body out on a stretcher after covering the body in scented oils and golden cloth. It was fascinating! There were then other locals scavenging through the waters to find any jewelry that had been on the body and had been dumped into the water with the ashes. While other locals would just casually be taking a bath a few meters away from the ceremonies. The logs used in the burning of the bodies Casual... At night time, we decided to take a boat trip out on the Ganges River to watch the sunset. The Varanasi skyline was beautiful in such a strange way. All you could see is warn down buildings, decaying lands, temple tops, Ghats, and locals jumping in the water. Every night they put on a ceremony to bless the Holy waters. The famous ritual is to light a lotus flower on fire and send it out into the water to bless all the bodies. This fills the water with light, making the view spectacular. It was way harder than it looked Varanasi skyline Shelby and her lotus flower The next few days, we beat the heat by staying in tight, shady alleyways and markets. The shopping was so cheap! Purses, shirts, jewelry, scarves, and anything else you can imagine for no more than $2! Too bad I barely had room to fit any extra purchases in my luggage, or I would have bought everything! The last place I would have wanted my flipflops to break, thank goodness I could buy another pair for $3 On the last day, Shelby and I decided to try the famous Blue Lassi. Lassi is a traditional yogurt-based drink that is very popular throughout India! I got the chocolate-coconut-banana flavor, and it was one the best things I tried on the trip. Mid-day, we were off to the train station. We got a nice air-conditioned night train back to New Delhi, which was our last stop before heading back to Singapore. Varanasi is definitely a city I will never forget for its very unique way of life. Gotta love night trains! Goodnight Varanasi