Life and Death on the Ganges

It was last Tuesday... Dad and I boarded our night train from Kolkata to the city of Varanasi on the Ganges River.

We slept well and the next morning we found ourselves at the Varanasi train station. We fought our way through taxi touts to the pre-paid taxi stand. We didn't have any hotel reserved, but I had a few in mind from my Lonely Planet book. I didn't want the taxi driver to take us to one of his hotels and so I ordered a taxi to take us simply to major intersection near to several hotels. The entire trip the rickshaw taxi driver was trying to get us to tell him which hotel we were staying in. He kept telling us that he knew of a good place. We insisted that he take us to the agreed upon intersection. We drove through the crazy traffic of the city and all along seemed to be going the long way about it. Finally he stopped on a street that I recognized from the map. He pulled into a hotel and I said, "this is not the intersection." I pointed to the map and said, "take us here!" But he just stared at it and stubbornly refused. Fine! I figured we couldn't be too far from it so we just took our bags and got out of the rickshaw.

Turns out, we weren't far at all from our intersection and soon we cut off from the busy streets and entered the maze-like alleyways of the old riverfront.

Eventually we found our hotel and were able to check in after a short but tasty breakfast on the roof!

Next it was time to go out and explore this new city!

Right outside our hotel was this guy just waiting to have his picture taken...




Our hotel was very near the burning ghats. This is a special place on the river where corpses are dunked into the Ganges and then set upon wood pyres to be burned. Photography is forbidden, but here is some of the wood used in the cremations.



It was quite a sight to see: actual bodies being burned. I won't go into detail. Use your imagination.

Near the burning ghats, Dad made a new friend...




And then we set off down the length of the Ganges riverside where each ghat is set out for ritual bathing, offerings, and other things. It was a riot of colors, people of all sorts, sounds, and smells...



From Wikipedia:

Situated on the banks of the river Ganges, Varanasi and Haridwar are considered by all Hindus to be the holiest cities in Hinduism. The Ganges is mentioned in the Rig-Veda, the earliest of the Hindu scriptures. It appears in the Nadistuti sukta (Rig Veda 10.75), which lists the rivers from east to west. In RV 6.45.31, the word Ganga is also mentioned, but it is not clear whether this reference is to the river. Also, people scatter ashes of loved ones here. George Harrison of The Beatles had his ashes scattered in the Ganges by his family in a private ceremony soon after his death.

Many Hindus also believe life is incomplete without taking a bath in the Ganges at least once in their lives. Many Hindu families keep a vial of water from the Ganges in their house. This is done because it is auspicious to have water of the Holy Ganges in the house, and also so that if someone is dying, that person will be able to drink its water. Many Hindus believe that the water from the Ganges can cleanse a person's soul of all past sins, and that it can also cure the ill



Dad took a rest...






Of course, no visit to India is complete without at least one visit to a snake charmer...




Yes, those are real cobras...

A "ghat" is a place on a river or lakeside where people can bathe and wash. Each ghat in Varansi is a little different...




"Just washin' ma buffalos..."




Tatonka...




Dad got hungry...




But I led him to the top of a hotel overlooking the river and we had a nice lunch up there.

It was a beautiful day...







Dad even got invited to the wedding...




By late afternoon, it was time to head back to our hotel. So we did (that's not our hotel)...




The hotel offered free evening boat rides on the river. So we boarded a small rowboat with a few other tourists from around the world and set off at sunset...




The ghats were still as busy as ever...




It was pretty in the evening light...










Our boatman parked us next to one of the main ghats, where we watched a puja festival that involved synchronized dancing (sort of) with fire and incense...






Then Dad got to row back...




And I helped....




Our hotel room had more switches than lights (this is typical of India)...





We slept great that night.

The next morning we were up before dawn for another boat ride. Morning worshipers were already busy at the river...







It was beautiful watching the sunrise over the misty river...




Palace above one of the ghats...




You can see the sinking temple here near the river...




Nate with the sinking temple...





After our boat ride, we went to breakfast on the roof again. There were monkeys...




And then we took another walk down those crazy ghats...




The water is pretty much a giant septic tank with raw sewage emptying into it. Since Dad is on the Granger-Hunter Water Board, he's thinking of using this trip as a tax ride-off...

The people were the most interesting...



















After walking the ghats, we followed the narrow alleyways back up to where we came. Here's Dad with some fresh milk...

Varanasi is known for their silk weaving and we could glimpse into several factories to see the people at work...




For lunch we ate at a very touristy but very chill place where you take your shoes off and sit on cushions around a table. The food was great but we had to wait almost two hours for it! It was no problem since we were just killing time before our evening train anyway...



After a leisurely walk back to the hotel we used the internet a bit and had a little dinner on the rooftop restaurant, while cricket played on TV. We got our backpacks and found a rickshaw driver to take us through the crazy streets back to the train station.

We got to the train station and waited on a seedy-looking platform with rats, dogs, monkeys, and even a cow for company. Eventually a drunk young man came over and started staring at Dad's belongings (I was away looking for our seat assignments), but a couple of other nice Indians also came and were nice to keep the kid occupied until our train arrived.

It was an amazing experience and the sights of Varanasi are not ones I will soon forget.

The map of my journey so far...





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Kent Komes to Kolkata

My trip is going faster than I can update the blog! On Saturday, Feb. 19, I finally left the South of India by train and arrived in the afternoon in the great city of Kolkata (formerly spelled: Calcutta).

The train station is on the other side of the Hoogly River from the main city and so I crossed the river by ferry passing the great Howrah Bridge...








The river was dirty and the air was a bit hazy, but it was exciting, as always, to arrive in a new city, especially one as exotic as this Bengali capital...






You don't go to Kolkata to see a bunch of sights (there aren't many), you go to Kolkata to feel the city and be a part of it.

What began as an British outpost on the Hoogly River is now India's second (or third, depending on your source) largest city. The crumbling colonial architecture is still all around...
















And politics here is vocal and energetic as are the Pepsi bilboards...



I explored a bit on Saturday but on Sunday I took it easy. I started with a trip to church. Believe it or not, the church is located in a suburb of Kolkata called "Salt Lake City." So after a bit of chaos I got on the right bus and found the church building. It was only a small branch, I got to accompany the hymns on the keyboard, I said the opening prayer, and I even gave an extemporaneous talk (translated by one of the branch presidency into Bengali). It was a great experience and it was fun meeting some new people.

After church I ate a nice Bengali lunch of fish wrapped in a banana leaf (which turned out to be not so nice later that night). And the rest of the day I just took it easy.

I did make sure, however, to get a bit of a hair and beard trim at a local barbers. He did a great job and I even got a head massage. All for around $3!




"But where is Kent?" you ask? ...Well he was seeing Mumbai. But on Monday morning I went to the airport and met him as he arrived with his backpack and beard. (You might also be asking, "but who is Kent?" ... he's my dad!)

The whole time he just stood around looking a little lost and confused...




Especially around the goats...



Just kidding, he was just excited to be here. I, on the other hand, was enjoying my first bout of illness on my trip so far (that darn fish!) and it was also the first rainy day of the trip!



But some days are like that, and it was just fine. (Because of my illness, I even got to use the bathroom in the swanky 5-star Oberoi Grand Hotel!)

But by Tuesday I was feeling fine and Dad slept well (with his earplugs). The sun was now shining and we had a full day of exploring Kolkata ahead of us.

Just walking out of our hotel we could see the sights and sounds of the city. Barber and fruitseller...




Our first stop was the majestic Victoria Memorial, completed in 1921 that stands amid green parks as a tribute to the respected British monarch...




It was such a lovely setting, there were even artist taking in the scene...




Dad made some new friends...




We toured the inside with a wonderful history of the city (no photos allowed!) and then enjoyed the grounds a bit more...







We enjoyed a great vegetarian lunch at a local "fast-food" place. They really liked Dad in this city...




After lunch we decided to explore a bit more of the streets.




People washing in the public water...




Serious gamers...




The poor...




Dad makes more friends...




Chickens for sale...







Chickens for szzzzz....




I made some new friends too...




There was a old Chinese Temple amidst the narrow streets...




And Dennis the Menace...




We had a great time in Kolkata! The sights, sounds, smells, are all too much to capture with only a few photos.

We checked out of our hotel and walked through the colonial city...



...where we caught the ferry back to the train station.

That night, we boarded our night train, set up on our bunks next to an old turbaned man and his wife, and slept great as we continued along towards our next destination...



The journey so far, with Kolkata in blue...





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