The most holy city...Varanasi

Welcome to Varanasi, otherwise known as Banaras and the city of light. Varanasi refers to the two rivers that used to converge on the Ganges. Varuna (Yarmuna) and the Assi River that used to be right by our hotel near the Assi ghat, but it dried up a long time ago. Thus the name Varan-asi.

This is the city people go to to be reach moksha, and be released from an endless cycle of reincarnation. If you are burned on the Ganges river you have a much better chance of escaping rebirth and moving onto to nirvana or becoming one with Brahman(as i teach my 7th graders) or Brahm (as I heard in a cab driver in town). The river is so holy you don’t have to have amazing karma to be rewarded. An electric cremation costs only 500 rupees, this is to end the practice of poor folks being tossed in the river by their families without cremation. The best way to be cremated is with sandalwood because it is so precious. It is expensive but worth it. At night we could see fires burning and families mourning the loss of their loved ones. In the streets we could see funeral processions as they carried their loved ones on stretchers on their shoulders covered in flowers to the river within 24 hrs of their passing. There are also many ghats or sloping steps here that lead into the river. Only two of the ghats are for cremation. The rest of the ghats are for ceremonies or simply gaining access to the river for ritual bathing, cleaning, brushing teeth, doing laundry. In the morning hundreds of people bathe in the river as the sun rises. Varanasi is not one of those places people forget. It is very memorable.

It is so hot here!!! It is one of those places that you start sweating before you even make it out the door of the hotel. Our hotel has no AC, and it is under renovations. There are flies everywhere and it smells like paint and stain. The first night Abe felt like he was working stage crew and spray painting set until his head hurt. Probably not the safest. This might explain his memory loss! :-)

Our first room had three “windows” and a “balcony”, yet the windows were just screens, and the balcony was locked and no one could open it. So all the AC went out the windows as quickly as it came out of the unit. When the power went off every hour or two the AC would stop and we would sit in darkness sweating wondering when the Hindu gods might grant us with the modern marvel of electricity. I mean, we aren’t wimps really, it is just the air in this town is like soup so you can only take it in doses.

Our Palace on the Ganges is indeed almost on the ganges... a block from the river. However, it isn’t a palace at this moment in time due it its current status as a construction zone under renovations. As you might have noticed for the past few days we have been “off the grid” and not able to post. That also means off face book oh no! and the internet room in the basement has one PC that needs some love and a mantra or puja or offering to ganesha for good luck to function. The roof top restaurant has an awesome view but the three tables they have seem to be popular with the flies, and the kitchen is very very dark and sketchy so with the monsoon and the heat we are not taking any chances! The one time we tried to have breakfast the flies kept bouncing off our face while we ate toast. One big challenge here is that we can’t walk anywhere because the streets are a muddy mess of animal and human byproduct, and the traffic is deadly. Our cab driver alone hit three people or cars in two days. Because we can’t walk anywhere and there isn’t an actual “restaurant” in our hotel we have had a lot of trouble eating. We are losing weight because it is a harrowing 30 minute rickshaw ride to a restaurant that has the cleanliness we need for our bellies to survive the next month of travel. If we were coming home tomorrow we could have taken more risks eating in India. Well… Kaitlin wouldn't take any risks. She has bacterial wipes stashed in every pocket!


Despite the extreme poverty and seemingly sketchy actions of the street sellers, touts, and wallahs we feel pretty safe here. There are probably 90% to 10% male to female ratio on the streets. The streets are a maze of bicycles, cows, pigs, dogs, pushcarts, bicycle rickshaws, motorcycles, mopeds, pedestrians, small cards and ominous SUV’s with tinted windows. And some land rovers with sirens on top. The motorized rickshaws are the most deadly and aggressive. I really thought we would kill someone. Our drivers always seem to want to impress us by driving as if it was our last day on this planet. They swerve all over merge everywhere cut people off and run bikes and children off the road. Indian traffic is like a giant organism, with no rules, and no lines in the road, and no traffic lights. Some intersections act like roundabouts and some are just giant merges where everyone fends for themselves. It seems to be that cars and rickshaws assume bicycles will swerve out of the way. That might be one unwritten rule. It is okay to pull out in front of ten bicycles without looking. This is the opposite in the USA.

So tonight was a comedy of errors. Abe finally convinced Kaitlin to go on a sunset boat ride. In this picture Abe is getting help putting a candle in the water to make a wish. He wished kaitlin would join him on a sunset boat ride later. Kaitlin bailed out on the sunrise ride because all the boats looked tiny (they are actually rotting boats! And the thought of going out on a small, rotting boat, on a VERY polluted river, does not sound appealing!). Even the 30 ft motor boat looked unsafe. I do admit they looked old… and rotting, but sturdy. Some of these boats hold over 50 people.. locals of course. Anyway tonight she decided to overcome her fears and brave the sewer infested waters in a “motor” boat. We walked down the muddy bank and stepped into this long open boat which looked like it had been painted blue and white years ago. The floor boards kept our feet dry but we could see a comforting layer of bilge water resting below. This extra water was for ballast of course. Immediately things went awry. A swarm of interestingly shaped flies and several tiny mosquitoes buzzed around our eyes and Kait brought out an extra pack of bug spray wipes. Then it started pouring rain. So I put up an umbrella. Then lightning started but no sound… so maybe it was heat lighting. Anyway, Kait hates lighting so she begged me to take down the umbrella so we wouldn’t get struck while boating on WATER she said. So even though the boatmen were laughing in the joyous monsoon rain, I put down the umbrella, and ironically the rain stopped and Kait begged to be dropped off on shore. We got off about five ghats away from the main ghat where the ceremony was going on. So we just walked there to see the ceremony. As we walked the rain seemed to heighten the strong smell of urine as people used the corners of walls and the shoreline as a natural out house. We saw the ceremony and made it back to the boat just as the lightning increased. We had two choices. Walk through the winding urine filled streets at night to find our way home or take the boat that was waiting for us. So Kait had all of her greatest fears in one night… bugs, sewage, leaking boats, lightning and lightning! It was quite the adventure.

We flew to Delhi this afternoon from Varanasi and got a transit room at the Radisson Hotel. The room is gorgeous and the mini fridge is stocked with drinks and lots of snacks! We are psyched!! (Starving after 4 days in Varanasi.....)

Our flight for Beijing leaves early in the morning at 3:15. We can't wait to see China!
We are thinking of everyone back home -- and we can't wait to see you all when we return!

Peace,
Kabe