Day 54: Varanasi-- the place you can't just visit

Our first morning in Varanasi was spend kind of relaxing. We woke up slowly and then we went out to get some food. The city is really busy right now because of the festival happening called Shivayatri. We decided to go look at a few of the famous temples in the area. It started raining around this time so we got a little wet walking from place to place. The coolest temple we went into was the “Monkey temple” as people call it around here. I was expecting that it was just a temple dedicated to the monkey god (hanuman? Or something). What I wasn’t expecting was that it was actually a temple full of monkeys. The monkeys were just running around and sitting on the sidewalk within a few feet from us. Sadly, they wouldn’t let us take pictures in this temple but I would be so happy to show you all how cute those monkeys are.

After this we walked around by the Ganges for a little bit. We sat in a temple while it rained and listened to this Italian guy playing drums from some children. He looked like he was fully immersed in the Indian culture, as if he had been living here for years. That is the interesting thing about Varanasi. The tourists don’t look like the kind of tourists that you find in any other city in India. The ones in this area look like they have settled in and are determined to be as Indian as possible. And after being in Varanasi for two days I think I understand the charm of this city. Somehow it just sucks you in. The vendors are persistent but not so pushy, the locals seem pretty used to tourists so they act more genuine. Of all the places we have visited this is the place I can imagine myself coming back to and staying in for a while. Amritsar is up there on my list too, but there is something about this river city that feels very homey. The only bad thing about Varanasi is that cows roam around EVERYWHERE freely. Its like this in all of India since cows are holy but Varanasi takes it to a whole different level. I don’t mind the cows so much but the ground is covered in cow poo. Which means that on rainy days like today you literally walk around in poo mud/water. I know, I’m sorry, that’s gross.

Before leaving we saw a parade. We were just at an internet café and walked out into the street to find an elephant walking by! Haha It was one of those perfect moments. We also saw some camels and people dressed up as representations of the Gods.

In some ways I was sad to leave this place but at the same time I knew that the only way to really experience Varanasi is to live here as long as you can. A few days don’t do it justice. So maybe one day I will come back! Anyways, if you ever plan to come to India make sure that you stop in this city.

So our time in Varanasi ended pretty quick. We got on our train with almost no difficulties around 5pm. We will be on this train till 9pm tomorrow night! 28 hours!  Haha well, we have one movie (Jane Eyre), comfy bunks, some books and each other to stay entertained. And the people around us are really nice so we are having a good time so far. We also discovered the joy of samosas so I think we will be fine!

Love,

Stéf