We landed on the river bank next to one of the ghats. A short walk to our hotel and finally a shower - except it was cold! Varanasi had a power cut and lots of rain therefore nothing to heat the water with. Don't think any of us cared much as it was wet and we were clean!

We got on Auto rickshaws to the main part of the town - the streets were narrow and manic, with loads of cows and their dung! We took a walk along the ghats as far as the burning Ghat. This is where most hindi's come to from all over India to be cremated. There is a fire inside that has been burning for hundreds of years. This ghat is open 24 hours a day! The towers above it are all tarred black with the smoke.

There were some locals playing cricket on one of the ghats by the side of the ganges so James and Matt joined them. They were pretty good, as think they have had many hours practising how to bowl fast!
James got bowled out after 4 bowls! But did very well considering he was the only English player against the Indians and Aussies!

Cricket on the banks of the Ganges against the Indians - great!!

We spent the first part of the evening in the Austrains' room having some alcohol - technically we aren't allowed any alcohol in Varanasi, but our guide had showed some of us where to buy some and joined us in the room too!!
Dinner was in the hotel - a Thali (veg of course!)

Feb 9
Morning shower was another cold affair!
Our morning was quite chilled - we just pottered around the hotel and street around the hotel until we met the others at 2pm.

2pm was the date at the Tailors! The owner and Tailor explained to us how cotton was made and how the different dyes work, different patterns, different examples of cloth, and so on and so on!
Finally got measured up. James ordered pair of linen trousers and shirt, I ordered pair of trousers and 2 tops - all for the grand price of less then 40 quid!!

Getting back to the hotel was a bit of a manic rush as we'd spent too long at the tailors! We managed to get back in a speedy rickshaw in 9 minutes (normally takes 20!!)
We walked down to the river and got on a boat. A Sitar player and Tabla player (bongo type drum) joined us and played music while we drifted. We had a flower ceremony - flowers in a leaf cup with a candle lit in the middle. For each one you put in you have a wish and if the candle stays alight enough to flow down the river your wish will come true.
My (Trace) first candle went in the river, because my arm wasn't long enought to reach the water from the boat!!

Candle wishes on the Ganges

Shailendra took us all to a Nepalese restaurant for dinner - except they also served everything else. James and I went half and half on Chicken Enchillada and some Nepali dish - Had Buffalo in, tasty!!

Feb 10
This morning we finally had a hot shower!! Bliss!
We went down to the main Ghats with Megan and Kevin. We wanted to go around the burning Ghat as you're not allowed to walk through it. We all ended up going through these mad little alleyways and took it in turns to take the lead! We finally ended up by the river again and near to the end of the ghats. It was great to see all the locals having their washes in the river and doing their washing (all of the men washed the clothes!) and leaving the clothes to dry on the side of the river.
The walk back was a lot easier and we found there was an easier route to get round the burning Ghat (but wasn't as fun!)

Headed off to the train station in autorickshaws for the next part of the journey.

written by  James & Tracey on February 8, 2007 from Varanasi, India
from the travel blog: James & Tracey World Tour
Send a Compliment

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hi james and trace
sounds as if you're having fun
hope all ok with transfer to singapore
love mum xx

written by  jane franks on February 21, 2007

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half way round the world for linen trousers and watching people doing their washing. jimbob you losing it man?

written by  Iamthedaddy on February 22, 2007

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