Varanasi: Ghats, Ganges and Rotting Carcasses

Tuesday 19th

There are basically two things to do in Varanasi go for a boat ride along the Ganges and hang out 'ghat side' and soak up the atmosphere. So after a much needed rest we headed out for an afternoon boat ride. And yes we did see a dead animal floating in the water. Actually you should probably tune out now if you have a weak stomach....I mean it!!


Along the river side there is tons of rubbish and if you don't look closely its fine, it just looks like plastic bags and bottles but if you actually look closely at it you see dead puppies and dogs and baby goats, pretty wrong.

So Varanasi is famous for its Ghats (big sets of stairs) running down into the river, but its even more famous for its burning ghats. In the Hindu belief its good to be cremated on the Ganges. So they dip the body in the Ganges, then they put it on a raft and pile wood on it, set it on fire and push it out into the river. This happens for everyone who can afford it. With three exceptions- babies, pregnant women, and holy men (Sadhus). They are waited down with rocks tied onto their bodies and put into the river- not burnt. I don't know why they don't burn them... but as a result when the rope wears away and the bodies bloat too much, they just float to the surface and freak out tourists. And everyday we saw the locals swimming and playing and drinking this water. Yummy.


We tried to go to two restaurants recommended in the guide book and they were both shut down... economic downturn?


Wednesday 20th

We tried to get up at 4:30 for the sunrise boat ride but it just didn't happen... so we spent the day shopping (picking out some pressies for people) and soaking up the ghat side atmosphere


Thursday 21st

We got up at 4:30 for the early morning views and enjoy the sunrise. Our boat guy was patiently waiting outside our hotel for us and then made us feel guilty by telling us how he waited fo two hours the day before.... ouch.


We got in the boat and got harangued by a very sleepy eight year old entrepreneur selling little floating flower candle thingys. We bought one each and set the off to look pretty for 5 minutes.


We'd asked to be rowed over to the opposite side of the river to take some pictures of the ghats, so we get over there and Nick jumps out onto the bank and the boat guy turns to me and says 'get out and have a look around' and its 5am so i'm like 'no i'm right here thanks' and he says 'but you've got to go and look at the dead body!' and yes there he was, our very own Sadhu, floating in the water next to the bank where Nick was happily snapping away pictures.

I promptly said 'no thanks, i don't want a closer look!' We know it was a holy man cos they're the only men not burnt. Oh and there were crows pulling bits off and eating the Sadhu... I said to tune out early if you had a weak stomach!


So the rest of the boat ride was pretty uneventful no more body sightings, we checked out the main burning ghat, next to that there is a temple that sunk into the river, looks like a sculpture but its real! We saw Sai Baba's boat next to the burning ghat (well it had his name on it and the boat guy said it was his) and Nick said it was an oil tanker life boat- he thought it was hilarious that it was even on the Ganges, and it had been Hindu-fied with om signs and pictures painted on it.


And as I watched everyone frolicking in the Ganges, drinking the water and splashing about... I remembered the 1 billion fecal coliform per 100ml that is said to be in the water and shuddered (there is meant to be less than 500 per 100ml for water to be safe for swimming). Despite its ick factor the Ganges really is spectacular, or should I say Varanasi is. Along the ghats there is a real feeling of joy as the people swim and bathe in their beloved Ganges, everyone is smiling and having fun. Dads are teaching their sons to swim, goats are frolicking, and women wade in as far as their saris allow.


That evening we ended up at Darsawameh Ghat at 7:30 pm which was when the do a big evening Puja celebration (every night). We watched it for a while and listened (they ring all these bells and it sounds amazing). Everyone in Varanasi seem to love Shiva, I think its because in their beliefs Varanasi is a holy place to die and Shiva is the god of destruction.

Friday 22nd


Today we caught the night train from Varanasi to Gorakhpur, it was supposed to leave at 11:15 but didn't leave until 12:45. It must have gotten later over the course of the night because we were supposed to arrive at 7:30am to get an early start on the bus ride to Pokhara but it didn't get in til 11am!! Our couchsurfer friend told us he caught a train once that was 24 hours late!!!!!!!!!!!


Saturday 23rd

We met two Korean backpackers on the train station, they got in our train cabin and basically we ended up spending most the day and following night with them. We had to get a 4 hour bus from Gorakphur to the border town of Sunauli, walk across the border (after changing our Indian Rupees into Nepalese Rupees and having our passport stamped), show up at Nepal immigration and buy our 15 day visa (US$25- bargain), then go in search of a bus to Pokhara. Suprise suprise, the Koren guys were on our bus to Pokhara, so we commiserated with them at the ridiculously long break stops all the way to Pokhara. The actual bus trip would have been fine (no crazy driver here) except it was like the Newcastle 111, it stopped bloody everywhere. It wasn't like 'fill up this bus with people going directly to Pokhara and drive there'... no it was like lets stop and pick up every possible man, women and chicken (yes the back seat was occupied by boxes of baby chicks that started escaping throughout the night- They were pretty cute though and chirped away happily throughout the night) and then lets stop for two hours for a dinner break.


Sunday 24th

Coming down the mountain into Pokhara (I woke up and the bus was full of school kids) we stopped along the way at little mountain villages and the scenery was spectacular (sorry- too bumpy for photos).


We arrived in Pokhara at 6:30 am (we'd left at 4:30pm from Sunali) and were picked up by the hotel we'd pre-booked (best thing we ever did). The driver told us the bus usually got in at 4:30 am and he'd been waiting at the bus stop since then! It felt so good to be in Nepal! The Annapurna's kind of hang over the town of Pokhara and that morning we had a crystal clear view.


Stay tuned for our couchsurfing adventures in Pokhara