Howdy all. The next stop on the adventure of Dhaka to Dakar was the city of Varanasi, somewhat in Northern India (not that far from the border with Nepal) and another place I had been to before. In fact, this 3 month adventure was MOSTYLY taking me to places I had been at least once before, if not more!

I had booked my train tickets through a great company called 12GOASIA, whom I can recommend. It meant that my dates were fixed before leaving Australia, but with a limited number of days to complete the journey, I didn’t consider this a bad thing.

Arriving at Varanasi Train Station (Cant I think) in the evening could be a bit daunting. Knowing how to get to your guesthouse before you arrive is really advisable. I managed to procure myself a ride at a price I was happy with on an auto-rickshaw without issue at least, but when I was dropped off outside the tourist/ghat area I had to negotiate my way around narrow passageways using Google Maps, and frankly, it struggled to get a signal and even when it did, it was rarely right!

But find my way to the guesthouse I did, one if the cheapest of the entire three months. It was comfortable enough, although the room was a little tight on space I guess. The location however was hard to beat, basically 10 metres to the ghats and the Ganges, and a balcony on top where I could sit with the best breakfast views in town.

I had no plans to see a million things in Varanasi. Instead, I knew that all I wanted to do in my few days there was walk the ghats and take a dawn boat ride, otherwise it was time to chill a bit, with an overnight train ride ahead of me as I crossed the country towards the West.

Walking the ghats took a few hours. The ghats are the concrete steps (simple version) leading to the water. Varanasi is a holy city especially for Hindus, but in fact many religions consider it a holy city including Jainism, Buddhism and Islam which are represented along the Ghats.

I think what really makes Varanasi special are the colours. They are rich, glorious oranges, yellows and reds especially. The temples and buildings are intricate and only enrich the photos you take. On this occasion I did see the ceremony of a body being brought down to the water and then ‘bathed’ in the Ganges’ holy river. Funeral pyres are built on the ghats with as much wood as can be found and it is after the dipping in the holy water, surrounded by family members, that the bodies are placed on the pyres. It may seem counter intuitive to dip a body in water before burning, but the fired are big and so hot it does not affect the burning process.

As a foreign tourist in Varanasi, and there are infinitely more Indian tourists visiting of course, I found myself approached from time to time to ask if I wanted a boat ride when I was walking the ghats. I had organised one for the next morning through my hotel, so I didn’t but the hassle wasn’t too much, and certainly nothing compared to Egypt. 2023 in Varanasi, in February did not see a plethora of foreign tourists as the past did. There were a few, but the numbers, at least as far as I could tell, were probably 30-40% of pre-covid numbers for this popular time of the year to visit. Actually, if anything it was bit chilly at times in Varanasi!

I began my walk at Darhbanga Ghat, slightly to the north of the middle of the ghat area I guess (sorry for the clumsy description there) and walked south. It took me about two hours to walk south to Assi Ghat, perhaps the most well-known of all the ghats. It wasn’t a fast walk at all, I was taking photos and vlogging as I went and taking my time as a result.

The colours and life were pretty special. As described above I saw a body being brought to the river for dipping before being put on a pyre. Assi Ghat is perhaps the most touristy and the most visited ghat. There are food stalls and it’s almost a beach in one point, with temples and old buildings as a back drop. It’s all special and unique and I think the biggest charm of Varanasi is just BEING THERE. I say that knowing there’s a fair bit of haggle and hassle around the city and even the odd scammer, but I think if you’re aware of that it doesn’t have an impact on visiting.

The second full day I took my boat ride on the Ganges. It was just a small wooden rowing boat, and a fair bit of hard work for the ‘driver’ who was also my guide and did have plenty to point out when we were on the river. You hear the bells ringing as the sun comes up. Compared to my previous time on the river in 2004 it wasn’t AS spectacular because of the cloud cover, in fact I didn’t really see the sun rise per se this time around. But it still was special without a doubt.

Also many fewer boats on the Ganges in 2023, as I said the town hadn’t seen a huge return of visitors from outside India as yet in February this year. India in general, actually and I think there are a few hangover issues from Covid still affecting the process for going to India and people’s desire I guess to go there. Having to fly in and fill out a bunch of forms (which no-one collected when I arrived actually) perhaps puts people off. I don’t really know. Some places I went seemed to have recovered pretty well, other like Egypt not as well as say Europe, but noticeably better than India.

All in all I have to say Varanasi will probably always be a great place to visit, and 2023 is no exception and if you’ve been thinking of heading to India, well 2023 might actually be a good year to do it as you won’t be competing with as many tourists as a few years ago. Who knows, by next year or 2025 things might return to what they were, so it’s something that if on your radar, you might want to think about.

Thanks for popping in today as always. Take care wherever you are in the world, and May the Journey Never End!