Auli -> Rishikesh -> Corbett National Park -> Varanasi -> Agra
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My train dumped me at Varanasi City railway station early in the morning. As I walked out of the station, couple of auto-rickshaw drivers walked into me and asked “kahan jaanaa hain?” – where can I take you? Outside of the train station was swarming with eager drivers of auto and cycle rickshaws who were looking for customers alighting from their trains.
I was headed to Assi Ghat – an area with many guesthouses popular with backpacking tourists. My guidebook said that a rickshaw trip to Assi Ghat should set me back by Rs.15, but the first person I asked quoted a 40. My tall backpack gave away my identity of a tourist and I was vulnerable to fleecing. A few more inquiries and some one agreed to give me a ride for Rs 25. I took his offer.
Around the train station and in the new city, Varanasi appears no different from any other city. The roads looked wide enough and most of them had dividers. Cleanliness was on par with any Indian city of its size. Hoarding and shops advertising big brand names of clothing and mobile phones were fairly prominent. A few mid-sized malls occasionally popped up in the middle of 2-3 storied buildings. At 7 am, traffic of any kind was almost non-existent on any of the roads. Only thing distinct that I noticed were the posters of sleazy movies that seemed to dominate every empty wall next to the roads!
But the roads got narrower as the rickshaw moved towards my destination. At some point it looked like I had come to a different place altogether from where I started. There were suddenly more people on these narrower roads, which were also getting much dirtier. It looked like the city was transformed to a world of a hundred years ago. The ad hoardings and the taller buildings had disappeared and the ones around here looked old, worn out and fragile. The transformation was more evident with cross roads morphing into small gallis. And there were a lot of small businesses operating on the road-side. We were in the Varanasi old city area, just besides the Ganges River.
As we moved further, the rickshaw driver, it turned out, did not actually know where exactly is Assi Ghat! He stopped occasionally to ask for directions. He pushed on and on and it turned out that Assi Ghat was indeed very far. When it finally arrived, I realized that Rs.40 was a more reasonable amount and compensated him for his ignorance.
Arriving at Assi ghat was a complete shock that I wasn’t prepared for. It was a place filled with filth and garbage all around. I was nearly depressed and wondered if it was a good idea to come here at all. As I walked further, I was more and more convinced that I was at a place where I would rather not be, and was making up my mind to move on from here as soon as I can. But I had to find a place to stay at least for a day before I decided where to go next. This is probably a feeling that every traveller to Varanasi experiences as he arrives. At the end of the first day in the city, I wrote on my personal blog:
“I am now in Varanasi, India’s holiest city. For the first time since I am out of home, which is almost a month, my smile faded. Though temporarily – only for a day or so. The city is gloomy and upset me slightly when I arrived. I contemplated on leaving soon, but survived the gloom and started exploring the town. There is indeed something fascinating about the town. Parts of Varanasi has never kept up with time, and its Gallis and the ghats have probably remained the same as they used to be in pre-independence times. It is interesting, beautiful, and crowded. The gloom comes from the dirt and the pollution that seems to be integrated with this place. It is sad to see the Ganga turned into nothing more than a 100-meter wide sewer. It is the same river that looked so pristine and beautiful and I fell in love with, only a few weeks ago in Rishikesh. There still are many things to experience in Varanasi and I shall stay here for a few more day, though I might leave earlier than I wanted to.”
Read more about Varanasi on paintedstork.com
* Images of Varanasi
* Travelling to Varanasi from Corbett
* Arriving at Varanasi
* Many perceptions of Varanasi
* First day at the ghats
* Boat ride on the Ganges
* An encounter on the ghats
* Photo Essay: Ganga Aarti
* Life on the ghats
* About Varanasi
looking forwartd to more… when I went to varanasi last year (on work), all I could see was a small town just like all others in norrth india – I found it pretty much dirty and depressing – and frankly could not understand what the magic of the place is alla bout – esp with foreign tourists. i definitely want to go and spend a couple of days there again some time and see if i feel any different about varnasi..
your skills in writing are improving ! MAHADEVA !