Varanasi

Hello all, here is another post. 

We have had a wonderful next portion of our trip and are excited to share it with you.  We previously went through our time in Delhi.  Now we will outline our first adventure on the marvelous interregional Indian railway, as well as our time in auspicious Varanasi.  Throughout this post we will be focusing on the importance of looking underneath the initial experience in order to appreciate the best parts of India.

In our opinion, the way trains in India are organized is fascinating.  Unlike the regulation of traffic as per our previous blog, the train system is regimented by very rigid rules around booking travel.  The average number of passengers travelling through New Delhi Train Station is half a million passengers per day, but it is exceedingly difficult to secure a ticket on an Indian train unless you are well versed in how the system works, or are an ignorant foreign tourist.  This system is problematic because there are more people wishing to take the train than tickets available, and the trains often sell out months in advance.  As foreign tourists, there is a certain quota available only to tourists and we were fortunate to secure 2 tickets on a train from New Delhi to Varanasi.  We were in sleeper AC 3 class, which means that there is air conditioning (yay) and three tiers of bunks in each open train compartment, with two bunks down the aisle.  On the surface, it was a nerve racking experience to figure out whether it was possible to use the train, but once we figured it out and were able to make it work it was a positive experience.  Here is a video that encompasses our experience on the train in a most excellent fashion.  Michelle loves chai, and on this train there were many opportunities to enjoy the masala tea.  It was fascinating to watch farming take place as we travelled.  The vast majority is done by hand, including swathing, gathering and threshing.  We also saw many people using backpack sprayers to spray wheat.

Next, our time in Varanasi.  As a city, Varanasi is known as a very sacred Hindu place.  There is a belief that anyone who dies and is burned in Varanasi is cleansed, causing the soul to go into moksha releasing you from the cycle of birth and death.  It is also very spiritually important for Hindus to bathe in the Ganges River (locally called the Ganga) which flows through Varanasi.  This means that there is an incredible number of Hindu people spending time in the city to bathe in the Ganga, to die near the Ganga, or to say goodbye to a loved one.  There are also sadhus, pilgrims, brahma and swamis who live sometimes sleeping on the steps of the city leading down to the Ganga.  It is a teeming mass of life that is equal parts intrigue and exhaustion.  Michelle loved getting to know several friendly goats and cows.



Upon arriving in Varanasi, we had made the decision to stay in a home stay/guesthouse that was run by a Varanasi family.  The house was approximately one kilometer from the Ganga River, and it was quite lovely.  We had the opportunity to eat with the family for every meal, and after tasting the first dish, we realized that the food was amazing and ate nearly every meal with them.

Varanasi assaults the senses in a way that Delhi did not.  While we experienced the crowded madness that is India in Delhi, Varanasi is on a different level.  The horns on motorcycles seem louder, there are increased numbers of cows and goats, and there is more interaction with Indian culture on every level.  On our first adventure we walked from our guest house to the Ganga, and were shocked by how exhausting it was to adventure.  People constantly come up to you trying to bless you, bindify you, offer a boat or tuk tuk ride, or give you a massage, and it was tough to push past this initial bombardment.  However, looking beyond this to the importance of this place and its place in history made it an important next part of our journey.  We did a bunch of walking, took a boat tour, and did most of our touring between the hours of 5:00 am to 9:00 am and 5:00pm to 9:00pm with an extended nap during the middle of the day.  Despite the chaotic mass of life and movement, Michelle often stopped to glance at and extend a greeting to all the cows… after all, you can’t feel stressed when looking at a cow!

Here are some additional photos that we took which we thought you would enjoy. 

Here is a shot of Thomas as we were walking along the ghats bright and early on the right, and a shot of Michelle doing the same on the left.  The most remarkable feature of Varanasi's architecture is the concrete steps leading down to the Ganges, depicted in the photo featuring Michelle.

In this picture, Michelle is receiving a blessing from a Brahmin, who sits along the banks of the Ganges.  In receiving this blessing, she also was the lucky recipient of a rather large artwork across her face made of sandalwood, tumeric and rice.  While of great spiritual significance, the substantial size made it challenging to appreciate.  Thomas was not intending to receive the same blessing, however it was not possible to opt out.

We have been trying to do a smattering of the more touristy things as we are in each place because they can be fun sometimes.  In Varanasi, we chose to go on a boat down the Ganga which was actually quite nice.  Also please note the substantial size of bindhi upon each of our foreheads.

Exploring Varanasi in the very early mornings and walking along the river provided a beautiful look at the beauty of the city and the devotion of the people.  There was no pestering or loud horns in the mornings.

Here is the Pooja (fire ceremony) that is performed every day at sunrise.  It is danced by young Brahmin boys and sung by young Brahmin girls.  There is a paradoxical existence of the caste system that is still alive and well in Varanasi.  The Brahmin caste is the a very holy caste and they perform many ceremonies and blessings; but they continue to rely on the untouchable caste to burn their bodies when they die.  It is challenging to see this through our eyes where we try very hard to uphold equality, but these traditions remain beautiful and vibrant to this day.  

Varanasi provides time to pause and reflect on the bookends of life... birth and death.  Life is out loud, and nothing on either end is hidden or glossed over.

We took a day to leave the hectic environment of Varanasi and venture to the nearby town of Sarnath.  Our lungs and spirits thanked us.

We visited a serene Buddhist garden, which has the claim to fame for being the place where the Buddha delivered his first teaching after attaining enlightenment.  We visited the ruin of a Buddhist Monastary. It was peaceful and very different than a lot of the Hindu things we had been seeing!  The place had a special gentle energy about it.  The picture of Thomas is beside a large structure that marks the supposed place of Buddha's first sermon discussing the middle path.

Those of you who have met Thomas know he is quite tall. There is no end to the architecture and clothing to remind us of this fact (note the arch he walked through to the right).



Thank you for reading and sharing in some stories of our travels!

….Next up a brief summary of our time at a Classical Ashtanga Yoga Ashram and Rishikesh