Varanasi, one week on...

Varanasi has been a really fascinating place, tough to wrap our heads around everything that is going on here. The city itself butts up against a crescent on the Ganges river, all along the river are long ghats or steps leading down to the water. On the opposite side of the river is a baron sandbank that floods during the monsoons, a kilometer or so beyond that is grasslands and trees with the odd building poking out. The city is said to have been founded by the God Shiva and has a continuous religious tradition that stretches back to the sixth century BC. Today, this deeply religious city is a great centre of learning, a mixture of religions and a place to die.



The Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi is said to give the instant enlightenment (assuming the dead have lived a life of good Karma), for this reason people come here to die, sometimes spending their remaining days in temples or talking alms from those who help. While walking along the ghats you are confronted in a couple of different places, called the burning ghats, with the 24 hour a day burning of bodies on the open fires. The funeral process is fairly in depth and for this reason i have written a separate piece explaining the whole funeral process, if your interested click here.


As you move away from the ghats and into the city you quickly become lost in a maze of small pathways that weave through shops, food sellers, temples, cows dogs and people. Many of these ally's are very narrow and mostly suitable just for foot traffic, but fat bulls and motorbikes will still give it a go, maneuvering around both can be slightly nerve racking. The Bulls are generally in charge, people give them as much room as possible. They wander, doing there own thing, occasionally trying to visit the odd house but can usually only manage to get their head in the door, interesting and funny to watch.

Steff and i have been eating well, plenty of Indian food but also the odd bit of Western food. All vegetarian, which is largely what is available here. The Chai tea is really lovely, we've been enjoying plenty of these, especially nice first thing in the morning along the Ganges. There you can sit and watch people pray, bathe, wash clothing, meditate, do yoga, all happening as soon as the sun comes up, it is amazing to watch it happening around you, in many cases just as it would have for many hundreds or thousands of years. Steff and i have found it difficult to drag our selves out of bed at 5 or 6 in the morning, but it really is worth the effort.

Right, so speaking of Yoga, Steff and i have found a Guru, or rather he found us. This morning along one of the Ghats we met this holy man, pretty much what you might expect; grey hair and beard, glasses, orange outfit with beads and dread locks, probably about 60ish. He is a doctor and Yoga instructor, not just the physical Yoga but with an emphasis on Meditation and Philosophy of Yoga. So, shortly after meeting him we ended up on the rooftop of a building in the oldest part of Varanasi, learning about the universe, ourselves and beginning some basic Yogic movements and meditations. The monkeys looked on as we meditated and stretched to the rising sun. We will be back to see him tomorrow morning, so we will give you more reports when we have them.



Today we visited a town nearby called Sarnath, the place were Buddha did his first teachings. This is an area of ruins with nice park land surrounding it. It was nice to have a break from the city and just relax in the park. There were Buddhists from Thailand there who were meditating and chanting which sounded really nice. Mostly it was a nice relaxing day. The ruins, well lets be realistic just piles of bricks and stones really not all that interesting, but as Steff said most appropriately; "it is really just the way that people interact with the space that makes it spiritual and special, rather that the space itself." Nonetheless it was nice to have a break from the touts and noise of the city.

That's about all for now, we will attempt another update in a few days, check out some of the new photos under the Varanasi category.

Take care everyone. Lots of love from us here in sunny, warm Varanasi, India.