varanasi

again, a last minute decision as to when to leave meant that all the sleeper berths were taken for the trains going to varanasi, and i had to get the reserved seating... and even then, i had to change trains at lucknow. a snake charmer came through and did his thing with a cobra... quite a sight to see the cobra striking out. of course, it was all quite safe, probably the snake had been de-fanged or else milked of its venom.

at varanasi, the rickshaw touts were as annoying as ever. and man, it was scorching hot. i got a cycle rickshaw to take me to assi ghat. the poor guy was sweating like mad and had to stop for a water break at a street-side tap. there was a hotel tout when we reached assi ghat and finding my hotel of choice fully booked, i followed him to another hotel a little way away. it looked like rooms in a family house, and clean and friendly enough to stay for a night.

i walked along the ghats till the main ghat where the big evening aarti was being performed. too touristy for me. i walked on towards the burning ghats and found a vantage point overlooking the ghat, nearby the piles of logs and wood ready to be used for the cremations. there were pyres being newly constructed for the next arrivals wrapped in shrouds. walking on, i saw the kids playing cricket on the steps of the next ghat oblivious to the scene of death and ceremony being conducted nearby. life and death, cheek by jowl.

the next day, i moved to another hotel nearer the centre, also close to the ghats. i took a river boat trip to the main ghat from near assi ghat. i haggled like mad and finally he relented. he didn’t look too happy. i asked him to stop so i could take some snaps, but he said that for the price i paid, he would not stop. in fact, he carried on saying that if i had given him what he  had asked, he could also have told me some interesting facts about the ghats, etc etc. he was pissed off. i said nothing. everything about money again. why did he bother taking me if he was going to be in a foul mood? i got off and walked around the ghat and the town a little. by about 11am, it was already way too hot to do anything but take a siesta in the hotel room. in the evening, back to take a walk around the ghats. i met a japanese guy i had seen earlier in haridwar take the same train, and he had his djembe with him. i got to play a little on the ghat near my hotel.

varanasi is a photographer’s dream. photo opportunities at every turn. babas with their orange robes and painted faces, snake charmers, sunrise over the ganga, colourful ghats, etc etc etc. i could have stayed longer than the four days i was there, but the heat was making me wilt.

i took a day trip to sarnath to see the place where the legendary buddha gave his first sermon after achieving enlightenment. and when i got back to varanasi, i managed to get a sleeper berth to gaya junction station, to see the place where the buddha was actually enlightened, under the bodhi tree at bodhgaya.