Day 8: Varanasi

Today was a busy and long day. I woke up with the light today, about 7ish am. We didn’t need to meet our tour guide till 9.30am so I didn’t bother wake the boys before the alarm. I just lay in bed readying my e-books. I’m beginning to like the e-books. My eyes haven’t adjusted to readying off the screen yet but the convenience of your entire book library stored on 1 computer out ways the reading off a screen inconvenience. I don’t think I could survive without some kind of book.

They boys woke up at about 8.30, so after showing and changing we headed down to the restaurant for some breakfast. I chose pancakes with chocolate and banana, Kyle had cheese and tomato toast and Alex had fruit and yoghurt muesli. My pancakes we not very good, they were under cooked and a cross between a crape and a pancake. The chocolate sauce was all right but not the best either. Alex seemed to enjoy his muesli and Kyle didn’t really like his toast. Indians need to learn what good bread is and how to toast it so it is not soft and soggy.

After breakfast we meet 4 Italian people who were doing the same tour as us. The more people you have on the tour the cheaper it becomes. The Italian people where Francesco, Laura, Polo and Georgio. Georgio and Francesco spoke the best English. Francesco is studying to be a doctor in Milan, Georgio is an accountant, not sure what polo does and Laura just finished a physiologist degree and is about to start her internship I think. They are all very friendly, happy and funny people.

Once we all got together we headed off with our tour guide. Our tour guide is a nice indian man that speaks very good English, also doubles as the restaurant manager in the hotel. The first leg of our tour is on foot. It’s the only way to get around the streets because of the narrow, criss crossing nature. First we headed to the golden temple. We had to stop at a friendly shop to drop off our bags, cameras and phones. This is because this temple is very busy and a very high chance of being pick pocketed. The down side is no pictures. Once we got close the people were just everywhere, I can see how belongings can go missing easily. The guide pulled us aside before the entrance and said we are not going in because we just would not fit and we could not see much because of all the people.

After getting really close to the golden temple we headed back to our bags in a perfume/tea shop. They gave us all different scents and oils to try in the hope we will buy. Some were very interesting but not enough to spend the money on. A very little bottle no more than 50mls was about rp100. They increased in size and money from there. It was very interesting to be in a shop like that. I think they let you mix and match different oils and scents to create your own.

We left that shop to walk to streets to the car. The car was a 4 wheels drive with the very back seats turned to sit under the side windows to squeeze in more people. The 7 of us plus guide and driver fitted in comfortably. We headed off to see the very large university of Varanasi. This uni is the biggest in all of India. The campus is about 7km radius I think the guide said. It puts Melbourne uni to shame. Inside the uni there was another temple. This one was very much less crowded and bigger. Inside the walls had depictions of different Hindu religious scenes but because it was in a uni. Some of the scenes had translations to English so we could understand. The temple is pretty but still not ornate like churches. There was embellishment around the place but nothing that compares to a church.

After the uni we headed off to the monkey temple. This temple was set in grounds with plenty of trees and things for the monkeys to climb and eat. Further into the grounds we came across a huge tree with the temple next to it. Again we had to leave our bags with the driver because there was a bombing here 8 years ago and scene then no electronic devices allowed near the temple. This temple was very orange and crowded. We happened to get there near closing time of 12pm so everyone was in there doing their last minute pray. To wonder around the temple we had to take of our shoes. The guide didn’t talk and walk with us this time because he stood and protected from the monkeys. This temple is dedicated to the monkey god.

The next temple we visited was big and red. This temple is to worship a female god I can’t remember the name of. This temple was the first one I had seen a lot of women at. The women come here a day or two after their wedding in their wedding outfit to pray for their marriage. The wedding outfit is bright red with what looks like rows of gold tinsel all over it. They also come in their full jewellery too. Women also come to this temple with their new born babies to cut their hair and sacrifice the hair to the god for peace and good health for the child. This temple was government funded to help keep it clean but that all stopped a few years ago so the huge pond in the middle is now full of rubbish and the outside of the temple is like a carnival. They had a Ferris wheel, stores selling all sorts of things and carnival games. I think this brings down the place to be a bit on the cheap side.

Next temple is where Ghandi visited while he was alive in 1936. This temple was less pointy then the others and looked more like a normal building. Inside set in the floor was a huge map of India and some of the surrounding countries.

After all that it was lunch time. The guide took us to a hotel that was quite nice to eat in their restaurant. The food was really quite good but they boys still complained about not being spicy enough.

Next we visited some old ruins. The original buildings we made about 550bc and not fully discovered till 1800 but the British. The grounds were quite extensive and interesting to wonder round. The inside of the building, what they found when digging it up were all in a museum across the road. Being Friday and all it was closed so no visiting for us.

Next was a buddas temple with a boudie tree. Apparently when budda as alive he gave a teaching here under the tree. While inside they were setting up for a big gathering in 2 days time for some reason. There were a lot of Sri Lankan people on pilgrimage to see this temple and tree. Apparently it is one of the 4 places they visit in India/Nepal. The inside of the temple was painted by a famous Japanese artist in the 1800. The pictures inside were pretty and delicate, depiction different scenes about budda.

After the temples we headed off to a silk factory. This was quite interesting because they showed the old and new technics for making silk. One was done by a father and son team on an old machine and could use upto125 colours in one cloth. The old way doesn’t use a pattern only what is in the makers mind. This technic can make between 3-10 cm in one day, the other technic can make 10-15 cm in one day. The new way is done by 1 person and they used a pattern but only up to 25 colours per pattern. Later we went to the show room to see all the different things they make. The more expensive ones had beautiful colours and shine to them. The middle range had some interesting colours but they were dull in comparison because of the quality.

Next we started for home. On the way we got stuck in traffic and it was quicker to walk. With a guide this time everything happened easily, not like yesterday. It was only about a 20min walk but if we had stayed in the car we would have not been home for hours. It was interesting to see the market at night. There were different areas for different things like all the jewellery people were together and cloth people were in a different part.

Once we got back it was time for a drink and a sit down. The Italian had to change rooms so they went off and moved everything while we had a sit. We ended up sitting there all night. The Italians came back and joined us for dinner and a few more beers. I think we all went to bed about 1am. The Italians had organised a boat ride up the Ganges at 5am. It had to be this early because at this time of the year it is illegal to go boat riding on the Ganges because of the speed of the water, amount of water and the fact the boats looked like they could fall apart at any moment. Alex was keen but I didn’t really want to risk my life for a few pictures. All the knowledge I have about water safety says don’t go near it so I wasn’t. I wonder if they survived.