The Heritage Home in Pahar Ganj in Delhi gave us a lovely comfortable night's sleep and we met our driver at 6:30 in a pea souper of a fog or smog en route to the airport. The journey was fortunately quite simple and thanks to Nipu's dexterity on the road - we reached the airport swiftly and safely. So glad it was not foggy when we arrived yesterday as we were able to see a bit of the amazing building going on in Delhi - completed and in progress.
The airport was like a small suburban one and worked quite well except for the huge queues for the women to pass through security and be almost strip searched by a bucksome wench - obviously they are used to the women being the terrorists or drug dealers here!
Had a nice breakfast pre-boarding and then the delay messages started to appear - due to the fog we were delayed 3.5 hours. An hour before we boarded we were given complimentary food vouchers and ordered a strange masala dosa which was not what we wanted but was ok and like a stuffed pancake with coconut chutney and masala sauce - quite nice.
The toilets were clean and efficiently run in the airport by a team of women who go in after every person to clean - that's how you have to do it here. Well done India!
When we took off we left the mist behind after 5 minutes and travelled eastwards for an hour with the Himalayan peaks on our left horizon for the whole way - we were trying to guess if one of those peaks was Everest - they truly were majestic even from that distance. For a large part of the journey we followed the Ganga river or other smaller ones and then turned south to land in Varanasi in the warm sunshine and were met by a driver sent by Rahul Guesthouse.
The airport is about 27km from town and the taxi was a Tata something - 'tatty' John called it that was a bit of a shock after Nipu's people carrier. The bone shaker took us over rough roads full of potholes and we saw a much poorer standard of living in the surrounding villages with very few items for sale in the little roadside shops and stalls and dusty faded clothes in the clothes shops.
The cow pats were being made vertically here instead of horizontally - moulded into rounds and splatted onto nearby walls with a clear handprint on each one.
We went past a body wrapped in gold and yellow brocade on a cart pushed by men - the family I suppose and suddenly the shortness of life came to you as you thought of the body being burned and sprinkled on the river.
Then the traffic came to a standstill and soon we were aware that something was going on further towards the riverside. After half an hour or so we saw a wedding pass us on the opposite carriageway with the family carrying a bedsheet for you to throw money in and loud music played from loudspeakers behind. Then the police appeared and we were all diverted into a carpark to turn around and go back the way we had come. By now we had been in the taxi for nearly 2 hours to go just a few km. Tempers were getting frayed and we idly watched the variety of vehicles and products passing from rickshaws full of chairs and tables, tins of ghee or oil, as well as motorbikes with brightly dressed young things going out for the evening and the school children - all well turned out on their way home in all directions - there were no camels here but rather thin cows searched the roadside rubbish tips for titbits and stray dogs - puppies and packs of older adolescents searched out discarded naans - anything- we were glad you were not here Erica to witness the plight of some of these animals - too much to bear even for us hardened travellers.
After about 3 hours of dodging between streets it became clear that the taxi driver knew less about the roads than John who had inevitably synchronised his phone GPS and the last half hour he directed the taxi driver as to how to reach Rahul Guesthouse. So we left Delhi hotel at 6.30 and reached the guesthouse at 5:30 pm - when the flight was a mere 1 hour chunk of the journey and it took us - 11 hours!
Our room is amazing - a family room with the best bathroom we have had- only downside is it isn't overlooking the the river - but the rooftop restaurant has an amazing view and the river is awesome and already the whole experience has been worth it.
We are sipping our cold Kingfisher beers again on the rooftop in the peace and calm of the evening as the light fades and in the distance we can see the lights of the first of many Ghats or steps where the faithful bathe and worship. Tomorrow we go for a dawn ride on the Ganges from the hotel and in the evening we will see the famous Aarti ceremony at the central Ghats. Then on our final morning we will go by taxi to Sarnath 12 km north of the city to see the varied Buddhist temples where Buddha came to give his first sermon after receiving enlightenment farther East at Bodghaya. This is our spiritual time - Om Padme .... etc as the chant goes....
Watching the sun set from the roof terrace
As the sun set, the birds were replaced by the many insect eating bats.
Had a lovely meal of veg pakora, kashmiri biryani and navratan veg - delicious!
The fireworks are just starting for the 7pm aarti ceremony
5 comments:
Sounds like everything is going largely to plan so far. We are really enjoying the pictures. Stay safe from Richard and Georgie
Sounds like everything is going largely to plan so far. We are really enjoying the pictures. Stay safe from Richard and Georgie
Such brave travellers, with strong noses to deal with the odors and the arduous and nights of little sleep. Enjoying the descriptions of scenery and repasts. Great pic of Yvonne driving you all on the bike rickshaw.
Glad you are enjoying it. Our photo transfer gadget has given up the ghost. Will try to get one in Delhi tomorrow.
Glad you are enjoying it. Our photo transfer gadget has given up the ghost. Will try to get one in Delhi tomorrow.
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