18th December: Varanasi

It was around 5:30am when the train reached the station of Varanasi. No announcement is made to inform you where you are, but thankfully our fellow travelers in the sleeper class were very friendly and helpful. We made our way to the exit through the crowds sleeping on the ground (some of them probably waiting for a delayed train, but most of them doubtless homeless) and were welcomed by a horde of autorickshaws. We did not quite know which one to pick or whether we should take a taxi. They actually quickly vanished when an old taxi driver offered his services. He took us to various hotels before we finally chose one. He was extremely helpful and I am not sure what we would have done wandering by ourselves in the dark and foggy alleys of the city.

Our hotel was slightly more upmarket than the rest we had seen: it was clean, it had a heater, what else could we possibly ask for? After a few hours' sleep, we wandered in search of the Brown Bread Bakery, which sounded like the perfect place to have breakfast. There were a few signs leading to it on some of the ghats' walls, which we followed. The place we reached, however, was particularly unpleasant (I will spare you the details). We ran down the stairs to escape this horrible place, thinking that this could not have been recommended by the Lonely Planet (in the end we saw several places pretending to be the real Bakery, which we could not find anywhere). We retraced our steps back to the ghats and settled for another restaurant called Dolphin. The food was very tasty and the rooftop restaurant offered a great view of the ghats. 

View of the Ganges from the Dolphin restaurant

Rooftop badminton (the young girl was sent off to retrieve the shuttlecock when it fell)

Our walk further along the ghats took us to a cremation place. A guide, who warned us not to take photos, showed us around and explained the Hindu rituals. 

There are always many people wandering around the ghats. Some are performing rituals in the Ganges, others are selling all kinds of services (massages, boats, shaving...), playing cricket, or just watching time pass by. John would often be assailed by the touts offering him their services. 

Cricket on the ghats

Decaying temples

Laundry drying after a dip in the less-than-clean Ganges

On the way back to the hotel, we saw some agitation, a sign that an event was about to take place. Our curiosity kept us waiting while the preparation was ongoing. Kids came up to us to sell postcards or powder to paint your hands. Foreigners are clearly the prime target for touts. They do not seem even to try selling their goods to Indians. The event in question was actually a ceremony honoring the Ganges (the Aarti). Five young and well-dressed Brahman priests performed a couple of rituals in front of the devoted crowd. It was a very theatrical performance, the meaning of which we did not fully understand. More tourists (mostly Indian) watched from small boats tethered alongside the ghat.

The start of the aarti ceremony

More aarti

A couple of videos of the aarti:

We then walked back along the ghat looking for a place to have dinner. We chose to walk mainly along the ghat to avoid getting lost in the maze of streets. The Lonely Planet map was not very clear and it took us some time to find the Lotus Lounge. It was another rooftop restaurant serving Indian and continental dishes for a foreign clientele. Unsurprisingly, our veg. curry turned out to be quite disappointing in comparison with the one we had for lunch. After 10 days in Nepal and a few days in India, we had become accustomed to spicy curries and did not really enjoy the watery sauce they served us. Nevertheless, it offered an appreciable retreat from the noisy and smell streets. 

The ghats at night

We were not quite sure how to find the way back to the hotel, now that we were inside the maze. On the map, it looked very easy but there was no sign of street names, which rather complicated things. Thankfully, a friendly local (who wanted to take us to his silk shop) showed us the way.  We said we would try to stop by his shop the following day, and disappeared into the hotel for a much-needed night's sleep.