Varanasi is a huge pit stop on the traveller's trail, an auspicious city lining the holy Ganges with over 60 ghats (steps cascading into a river). There are the famous 'burning ghats' where bodies are cremated and their ashes spread into the river (dying in Varanasi is said to fast track the individual out of the cycle of rebirth to another human existence), and each ghat has it's own sense of 'personality' and characteristics that are usually formed around the majority of practices happening at each one (some are used primarily for washing clothes, some for dipping into the river to wash away sins, some have been turned into impromptu cricket grounds while others hold tourists who pay large sums of money to sleep next to the river and do 'yoga' on the ghats)
The 'city' itself (the area that most backpackers stay and eat) is lined along what is known as the Old City that is an array of almost under ground mazes, formed by the tall buildings and narrow alleyways between them. Here it is packed to the nines with shops, restaurants and backpacker joints - and in the midst a funeral procession of a body followed by a chanting family will squeeze past you. The city is ferocious, busy and thousands flock here to watch the religious ceremonies and take part in the cultural aspects in the place revered as the most holy place of pilgrimage for Hindus.
Varanasi has been our least favorite place. It's amazing (and true) that the places you thought would be your favorite aren't, and the ones you dreaded become your favorite. We were really ..... disappointed and slightly disgusted at the state of the city . It has become difficult to grasp the concept that a place considered so holy is literally shit on by thousands upon thousands of people. By this, I dont meant the general age and cultural differences of a typical third world country (we no longer cringe at bugs in the room, squat toilets or a stray hair in the food from time to time) but..... each ghat was so putrid that it was difficult to walk the length of the river along them. The river is polluted (an ongoing issue in India and around the world), there is mass amounts of garbage (more so than the usual) and the steps are currently being used as a toilet by those that can stand and urinate. It reeked of urine, feces and rotting garbage everywhere (not just in one place, but the entirety) - and the only spiritual people we saw were attempting to hide from the bus loads of day tourists coming to take photos. It was .... awful. Mix this with our only interaction with locals were of ones attempting to sell hash, boat rides, guest houses, rickshaws, clothing, more hash and the occasional back rub (something we have been able to avoid, even in bigger cities. If you look past the 'tourist market' you can meet amazing, genuine locals and truly connect - something we have found easy everywhere else) and we were ready to leave before we actually settled.
Off to Bodhgaya next - a small (er) place that is the birthplace of Buddhism. It is here that Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree and gained enlightenment... perhaps we will too.
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