Thursday 19th February 2015
We got up this morning and told the guesthouse we would stay
another night to give us today to find somewhere better. We then had a
ridiculously long breakfast on the rooftop before getting productive and
getting some laundry done. The pants that I was wearing on the bike yesterday
ran black with dirt from all the dust and grime in the air yesterday.
Sitting back up on the roof terrace I got some writing done
only for the internet to crash and everything was lost which was a massive ball
ache. So I packed that in and we went exploring.
We wandered about for a while until we found somewhere to
eat the food took freaking ages but when it finally arrived it was pretty
decent so it was worth it. The tables were low and the seats cushions on the
floor so we chilled there for quite a while.
Next door was a Kali temple and a ton of cow and water
buffalos including three tiny very new babies which we spent some time patting.
We then went on the most annoying search for a better guesthouse
it seems that any better than what we are in but in our price range are full
and everything else is grand but way too expensive which was a tad annoying we
did have a good walk along the Ganges though and stopped and patted the
millions of tiny puppies that seem to be everywhere.
View from a guesthouse that was perfect but not so perfectly priced!
By the time we got back to our guesthouse the touts were out
in full force and it was getting dark so we retreated to the roof to eat, chill
an get attacked by all the mozzies Varanasi ha to offer.
Friday 20th February 2015
We didn’t do a lot today but we did do a lot of walking.
After breakfast we headed off to explore we went to the main road and turned
right to see what was in that direction. The answer was not a whole lot. We did
find a chat stand and eat all the samosas and other random Indian street snacks
though.
Then we took a walk through random streets of shops selling
paint, barbed wire and tools.
We had a wee look at google maps and decided to
walk to a park that was kind of close. Along the way we stopped to look at some
tiny baby piglets and their huge unhappy mama pig. We got to the park and it
was set up for some random household goods sale with rugs and air conditioning
units a plenty.
On the way back to the guesthouse we stopped at a lassi shop
and I had an amazing pomegranate coconut and chocolate lassi that I savoured
mark knocked his back like a shot.
We chilled the afternoon away before heading out for dinner
it was harder to find somewhere than we thought it would be but we found some
cheap thalis and polished them off before heading back to watch a movie.
Saturday 21st February 2015
After being up or a lot of last night due to make being all
sick an fevery we had a slow morning and then chilled on the roof for half of
the day. Eventually we roused ourselves enough to change rooms to a bigger one
with a window that overlooks the Ganges.
About 1pm I set off to go and find the yoga training centre
as I wanted a reiki session. The place is renowned for its yoga and healing and
is expensive by Indian standards so I was expecting a lot.
I spoke to the dude and organised a session for 2pm as that
was only 30mins away I opted to just chill out and wait.
At 2pm the guy came back and explained how he does he
sessions and introduced me to a girl who was there having just had her level
one attunement he started the session but talked to her throughout the entire
thing which was incredibly distracting. He was an amazing healer with
incredible energy so it’s a shame he was one of the rudest most unprofessional
people I have ever met.
After the healing I was really pretty spaced out and turned
the wrong way out of the centre and was then lost for about 40mins just
wondering about the side streets and back alleys of Varanasi eventually I came
out onto the river and was able to walk back to the guesthouse from there.
We chilled on the roof for a bit before heading off to find
food we had been fasting all day and were starving and so ordered way too much
food and then ate it all and felt rubbish, to make it worse the food wasn’t
even that great.
Back at the guesthouse we lazed about in our glorious new
room watching parks and rec.
Sunday 22nd February 2015
This morning I woke up early and read my book and watched
the monkeys outside our window. We didn’t get moving until late and were pretty
pleased about the hot water being on (it’s been nothing but cold the last few
days)
I wasn’t feeling great and Mark was still all fevery so we
just chilled out on the roof eating pancakes and drinking chai
I attempted to download some new music but the internet wasn’t
playing ball and so I ended up just getting annoyed.
In the evening we headed out for some food and then down to
the Ganges to watch the Ganga Arti. It was stupidly busy mostly with random Indian
tour groups where they all wear matching hats and t-shirts (mostly in fluorescent
orange) we found a little perch and sat and watched. Towards the end a man lady
came up and started talking to us although I’m not really sure what she really
wanted she then proceeded to drink Marks water which I found rather amusing.
Cow going to town on a bag of chalk
The crowd watching the Arti
Ganga Arti
The Lady-man who drank Marks water
We walked back along the river avoiding touts selling boat trips,
massages and shaves (all aimed at Mark) and up past the burning ghat which was
still in full swing even this late (the fires burn 24 hours a day and on
average cremate about 600 Hindu believers
in that time! )
We then headed up to the roof for a tea before bed like the
nanas we are.
Monday 23rd February 2015
Today was another fairly nothing day I was feeling even more
shite than yesterday and Mark was still crook as well we didn’t do much else
than occasionally eat, sleep and read. Thank fuck for roof terraces! The only
interesting thing to happen was when a bunch of men from the government (including
one policeman armed to the teeth) came and started smashing holes in the floor
and then in several walls something about trying to determine how old the
building is…
Tuesday 24th February 2015
Sarnath is the place where Buddha first taught Dharma and it
happens to be just 15km or so from Varanasi so we went to see if we could get
some enlightenment. The drive out of the city was hectic as always but once we
were on the road we moved without too much drama. It didn’t take long to get
there and we parked up in the centre of town and had a walk around.
Our first stop was the Thai Buddhist monastery (they also
have a Vipassana centre if anyone’s interested…) the grounds are really pretty
with a huge 80 foot Buddha statue set at the end of a long fountain, flower
lined garden. As well as several other statues dotted here and there and a
prayer hall.
Next we walked along to the archaeological museum which
holds artefacts recovered from the site of Buddha’s first teachings at
Mrigadava (Deer Park) it’s quite an interesting museum and I especially enjoyed
the ridiculous typos in the English translations. The museum is pretty strict
on security, you can’t take anything in and have to walk through a metal
detector to get in which is a shame because some of the exhibits were quite
photo worthy.
We came out and Mark had to get a Gaylord ice-cream.
After the museum we went into the Mrigadava (Deer Park)
ruins. It’s quite hard to make out what buildings would have looked like and
the signs weren’t overly helpful but nonetheless it was a pretty place to walk
around and the toilets were amongst the cleanest I’ve seen in India. As usual
we were swarmed by folks wanting photos but we were not in the mood after
feeling rough the last few days and declined every person.
By this stage we were starting to fade a bit but pressed on
we managed to see three more temples a Buddhist one built by some Sri Lankan dude
a Korean temple and the golden temple which was super impressive from the
outside but we didn’t go in as there was some sort of teaching going on.
The Korean Temple
Outside the Golden Temple
Outside the Golden Temple
From the golden temple we headed back into town (it was
quite a trek out and we got chased by some scary arse dog who couldn’t decide
if he wanted to eat us or run away from us) and back to the bike.
We drove back
into town and hit the traffic it was even more chaotic then usual so we parked
the bike back at our guesthouse and headed along the river on foot to find
food.
We settled at pretty much the first place we came to which was
a rooftop restaurant with views of the river and tons of green parrots flying
about. The food was a tad pricey but pretty spectacular and we left feeling
pretty satisfied. We went back along the main road so we could swing past the
ATM and somehow ended up in Blue Lassi having Bhang Lassi.
Green parrot
Sunset on the Ganges
Varanasi has government approved bhang shops so ordering in a
restaurant had to be done on the sly it was nowhere near as tasty as the ones
in Pushkar and way more expensive but it did the trick.
Back at the guesthouse we put on a movie and giggled our way
through the night. In the night I kept waking up way too heavy to move and
began to feel quite ill which wasn’t ideal.
Wednesday 25th February 2015
Today was a bad day. After feeling so great yesterday today
was a bit of a nightmare. We slept half the day anyway after being so fucked
last night. We got up and had a bit of food then went back to bed then got up
and ventured out to go get dosas but I immediately regretted it as I felt super
shit again so called it a day and showered and went to bed.
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