Despite our concerns about the crazy winter weather, we made it to Delhi without a hitch. We were pleasantly surprised by the beautiful and organized airport and we were through immigration, had our bags, and out the door with our guide in no time.
Unfortunately, our onward travel to Varanasi did not go as smoothly and resulted in us spending an extra night in Delhi. We arrived at the airport only to discover that our Indigo flight, along with many others, were cancelled. There was little explanation, although the term “technical” was thrown around a few times. In any case, our guide was determined to get us on a flight so we waited many hours, without luck, before retreating to a nearby hotel.
Since we had a few hours before our flight, Atik took us out for a street walk near the airport. It was a great introduction into local life and it was good to get out and stretch our legs. It was nice to be in some temperate weather despite the terrible air quality.
We finally arrived in Varanasi at 3 pm and since we had to depart the next day at noon, we had to hit the ground running. We checked into our hotel and immediately made our way to the ghats.
I have never seen so many people in one place in my life. The streets were packed with a combination of people, cows, dogs, cars, tuk tuks and bikes and everyone who could had a hand on their horn. It was impossible to know where to look to try and take it all in, keep up with Atik and not step in poo. Sherry was getting a exciting welcome, although she may describe it differently.
Varanasi has been on my bucket list for a very long time. Despite the utter chaos, I enjoyed it every bit as much as I expected. It was like walking into a post card with all the colours, sounds and architecture.
Here we took a small rowing bow and made our way to the ghats. Ghats in Varanasi are riverfront steps leading to the banks of the River Ganges. The city has 88 ghats. Most of the ghats are bathing and puja ceremony ghats, while two ghats are used exclusively as cremation sites.. We rowed down with the masses to see the burning ghat known as Manikarnika. Here, families, mostly men, prepare the bodies for cremation. The bodies are brought down to the Ganges river wrapped in cloth and covered in flowers and washed before being brought to the river side and place upon the piles of burning sticks for cremation and passage into nirvana, breaking the cycle of reincarnation. To ensure the body burns quickly it is rubbed with ghee (clarified butter). The skulls are also crushed to be sure they are not used for black magic. It really was an intimate and moving experience. Many day later, the ashes would be brought back and left to float in the Ganges.
After that, we watched the tens of thousands of people worship on the banks of the river in a ritual that occurs every evening.
It was a difficult process to get to this place and for a while, I thought we might not get there. It was a very emotional experience and worth all the effort.
PS. The internet has not been good and our days are long so I am going to update my blog when I return ( but am writing along the way) and focus on posting a few pix to facebook.
This featured blog entry was written by curlygirl from the blog One mom, one son, one world.
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