'V'onderful Varanasi

Our trip to Varanasi this past weekend was quite the adventure. We made a whole lot of plans that we learned when we arrived were going to be unlikely. We dealt with a flight delay that threw off our Sunday plans. And we paid a whole heck of a lot to book a flight there...However, all things considered, it was an unforgettable experience that I would have regretted missing out on for the rest of my life. I always wondered what it would be like to visit Varanasi, and, well, it was in many ways exactly and completely opposite than what I had imagined....but thus is India - a self-contracting axiom I am only just beginning to understand. I daresay, I will never fully be able to comprehend it. So here's me trying my best to enjoy the journey.

Our first stop after checking into our hotel was Sarnath. This is the Buddhist temple where the rickshaw driver dropped us off at, but we were trying to get to the Dhamekh Stupa Monument Site, so we were a little confused.

This is the actualy place we wanted to visit in Sarnath. This is the location of Buddha's first sermon.

We dove into some serious traffic on our way back from Sarnath...At one point we were blocked off from the road so that a train could pass, and that was when we realized that we were the only four women unaccompanied by a man on the road...so all of the guys on motorcycles blatantly stared, without any inhibition. At one point I began waving to people who kept on starting with a smirk on my face, much to Joyce's dismay, who what trying her best to disappear...but I figured, if I'm going to be treated like a celebrity, I might as well own it.

The store owners of a silk factory decided to show us every silk scarf they had in stock when I mentioned I was looking for a scarf. Joyce got a similar treatment when she asked for a sari, but they were much more enthusiastic about getting her money, since saris are a lot more expensive.

Later at night we decided that we wanted to grab a boat on the Ganges so that we could witness a few rituals being performed by the Brahmin there. It lasted about an hour, and it made me wish I understood Hinduism a lot better because I was really lost for most of it. All in all though, it was a cool experience.

We headed for the Ganges again on Sunday morning because we wanted to get some more pictures and stay for low-key this day. The girls were very nice about shopping mainly on Saturday evening so that I could keep the Sabbath holy on my end. It was really awesome of them, and I'm glad I went with such a considerate group. Here's a picture of me in front of a boat with the Indian flag painted against its side.

Joyce, me, and Ashley. These girls are too funny. Honestly, I always laugh so much when I'm with them.

A panoramic view of one of the ghats, and  the Ganges. We spent about two hours on Sunday just boating through the Ganges and taking pictures. We also witnessed a few cremations, which were really interesting, but we could not take pictures at that time because it's a sacred ordinance for the Hindus, so I don't have any pictures from that experience, but I can respect that.

That edifice sinking to my left used to be a temple. Our boat guide, Babu, told us that it had sunk 10 feet over the course of the years. The water levels here at Varanasi are also apparently always changing pretty drastically.

I am very proud of myself because I can effectively read in Hindi now...even though I don't understand what I'm reading...It's progress, and I'm excited to continue learning once I get back home.

ARE YOU READY FOR THIS? Ok, that's a dead body. It's one of three we saw on our Ganges escapades. Yep. And I didn't feel terrible snapping a photo since this is technically a good thing for Hindus. Babu was explaining that under certain specific circumstances bodies should not be cremated, but instead should be put into the Ganges River (infants, people who died from a cobra's bite, etc.). It was kind of shocking because we had expected to see the dead bodies being cremated, which is totally cool in my mind because I was ready for it...but seeing the bodies floating in the water was a little startling, but I did my best not to be a close-minded tourist about it.

The Epic Varanasi Shot...or so I call it. Every time I see pictures of Varanasi, I see pictures like this, that include these building in the back, and these boats, so I wanted to get a picture in front of that area too.

Again proud to announce I can read the Hindi on the side of the boats.

People always stare at me when I wear sunglasses. At least I'm assuming that this is the reason why they stare. Lalit was explaining to me today that it's not as common for people to wear shades here, let alone women because it's usually an expensive commodity to come across. Little do they know my shades were only 10$...which is comparatively a lot, but still not nearly as expensive as they think it is. People also always laugh at me because I smile in my pictures. I guess that's not proper either for ladies to smile.

The Umbrellas. We were on the Ganges for about two hours and it was blazing hot in Varanasi. Babu thoughtfully brought enough umbrellas for each of us along so that we would have some means of blocking out the sun. It was very thoughtful, but it was so hot. 

A little boy playing with some paper in the water by the ghat where people go to specifically to wash clothes.

The baby was being blessed.

This is the ghat that was closest to our hotel, which only about a 5 minute walk from here. It's much nicer in the daytime when the beetles and other insects are hiding away from the sun. We were super startled when we came here at night because we weren't expecting grasshoppers that were inches long and could always fly they jumped so high, or millions of black beetles that totally reminded me from the flesh-eating beetles on The Mummy movies. 

My already clear tan lines on my feet got even worse after our boat-ride in the sun. It's no wonder most tourists aren't seen on the Ganges during the hot hours of the day.

A lot of people were very open about bathing publicly naked on the Ganges. I saw two fully naked men, and one fully naked woman...which was different considering the value of modesty within Indian society, especially in regards to women. The woman that I saw bathing naked was right next to a group of bathing men...which was even more bizarre considering the culture.

I got dizzy every time I climbed up those stares. They were super narrow.

Cows and water buffalo were a lot fatter in Varanasi than any other city we traveled to. Maybe it's got something to do with it being the Holy City for Hindus, but it was really curious. The cows were also much more aggressive here and had no problem stepping into traffic or running through a crowd of people at full speed, which was kind of dangerous, but cool to witness.

Walking back to the hotel after our adventures in the Ganges. While were on the boat, our airline called letting us know about the two hour delay of our already late flight...so we were rushing back to the hotel to grab our confirmation numbers so we could change our flights to get an earlier one. It was sad because we ended up leaving a couple of hours earlier than we planned, so we had to skip the temples...but the truth was that I was templed out at this point, so I was ok with coming back "home." It's funny how Delhi has become our home here in India..it just feels so much more comfortable than anywhere else now that I've been living here for a while.

Cycle-Rickshaws

A lot of the women who ride in motorcycles in Delhi cover their hair, faces, and arms to prevent breathing in pollution and exhaust and getting to your destination looking raggedy and dirty.

Yes, that baby in on her mother's lap riding sideways in the back on a motorcycle. No big deal.

Ashley and I squeezing together in the back of the rickshaw on our hour long frantic ride back to the airport to catch our earlier flight. We were startled to learn that the airport was so far away from the ghats and the tourist spots in the city, but we improvised and made a lot of friends along the way.

The airport. Back to Delhi for my last week in India. So bittersweet.