After the interesting train ride, we journeyed through Varanasi. Varanasi is the oldest living city that has continually been inhabited, over 3000 years. This city is the most religious place in the Hindu religion because of its history and because it sits on the banks of the Ganges River. The city itself somewhat reminds me of Jaipur except it is much more crowded. As you get closer into the heart of the city, you stop see cars and it is just tuk tuks, rickshaws, and motorcycles; eventually, it is just pedestrians. It is very very congested here and very dirty.
We filled what little time we had with a sunset boat ride down the Ganges River. The city along the river is very beautiful, but the river is absolutely filthy. As we went down the river, we saw were they cremate the bodies on the river banks; there is a huge pile of burning wood, and they place the bodies in the flames. To be cremated on by the Ganges is a very sought after thing after a Hindu's life, over 100 bodies are burned every day. The spot that we saw is one of two, I think, areas where the bodies are burned. We were asked not to take any photos as we got closer to the burning bodies, understandably, it is very disrespectful.
As we returned to where we left, we watched another Hindu ceremony, similar to that of the one I witnessed in Orchha, except much more people were there and the river was full of boats. There is currently a religious Hindu festival going on in India called Maha Kumbh Mela that brings in over 40 million people from around the world to this area of the Ganges. The banks of Varansasi have grand steps that lead to the river, this is because, during monsoon season the water levels can differ greatly, but the people need access to the river at all times. In some of my pictures, you may notice tents and tarps hung up. This is not for the poor people of the area, they are for the Naga Sadhu people. These people are the very religious Hindus and, among other things, they do not believe in having any personal possessions, even clothes. So there are a bunch of men walking around fully nude. Quite a shock. They have come to the area just for Maha Kumbh Mela but would otherwise live in jungles and/or caves, a very nomadic lifestyle; Yash said that most of them probably walked here from all over India. I won't put up any pictures of them nude on here, but you will notice them because they are covered in white ash. This ash is from burned wood and sometimes from the burned bodies, it is to protect them from the sun and mosquetos.
Later that night, the two Norweigens and I joined Yash for another night cap. The girls are convinced that a shot of whiskey before bed helps clean the stomach. I'm from the south, whiskey is whiskey, I don't need a reason to drink it so I am always more than happy to join. We got an early nights rest because we are waking up early Friday for a sunrise boat ride up the Ganges.
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