Varanasi, the Holy City

Wow, I don't even know where to start...

Varanasi is basically your worst dream about India. As dirty and crazy, as I thought India would be, this place exceeds everything I could possibly imagine. 

One thing I really have to give credit to, is that the airports in India have been very modern and clean so far. 

But all credits aside, the rest is pretty dirty and smelly haha.

The traffic from the airport to the Hotel was insane. Bikes, cars, and motorcycles coming from every direction and crossing wherever they feel like it. I would never in my life risk to drive here. Even sitting in the taxi freaked me out. Even a roundabout was used from all directions. I don't even know why they have one, as no one seems to know how to use it. 

The smog was as bad, if not worse, in Varanasi compared to Delhi. I had to cover my face the entire time, as I wasn't able to breathe driving down the roads with open windows. 

The driver dropped us off at an intersection, where there were hundreds of people walking, driving, transporting and pulling things. I fought my way threw the masses, trying to avoid being run over. It was scary, but I survived haha 

After we finally arrived at the Hotel, I was starving and we decided to go and eat pizza at a pizzeria that I found on trip advisor. But to be honest, I can only recommend it: Pizzaria Vaatika. The place is dirty as hell, like any other place, and I wouldn't suggest to eat anything else there other than the Pizza, as it was yummyyyy. 

From the Pizzaria back to the Hotel was a 20 min walk and luckily I wasn't by myself otherwise I would have probably freaked out. The things that we passed, were shocking and scary. There are no words that can really describe  what we experienced. Dead animals, flies and insects everywhere, smog so bad that I wasn't able to see my hands in front of my eyes, starving people sleeping on the street, dead people being burned right in front of us in an open fire, and so much more. After those 20 min, I was so overwhelmed, that I was actually ready to leave right away. 

The next morning we woke up at 5 am to go on a boat on the Ganges River to see the sunrise. The sunrise was magical. Due to the smog, you are able to look into the sun the entire time, and the perfectly round red ball lightened up the city. The local explained to me that the city is only build on the one side of the Ganges River, because god Shiva wanted to gift its people with the sunrise, to wake up and dip into the water. They call the inhabitants of Varanasi, the children of lord Shiva. 

People were swimming in the river, washing their bodies and their cloth. And right next to them, others were washing the dead bodies, as well as throwing in the ashes of the burned bodies. But apparently thats the holy part about the water... disgusting!

The boat took us to the main burning area, where approximately 150-200 dead bodies are taken to every day. On this ground they get burned and the whole floor is covered in ash of the previously burned bodies. The smell was horrific and the ash was flying all around us. 

A local told us that it was the largest outdoor cremation ground in the world and that its functioning for 24 hours every day. Apparently the fire never stops. The head cremator of each corp, has to shave their head and beard and ask the never ending fire of god Shiva for permission to cremate the body. Before the bodies get burned, the water of the Ganges River is offered one last time into their mouths, to clear their soul and free them from their sins. 

There are 5 bodies that can not be cremated:

Small children, pregnant women and monks, because their souls are said to be too pure to be burned and 

people with leprosy and people bitten by snakes, as its believed that their lives were full of sins. 

People from all over India come to die in Varanasi, hoping to interrupt the cycle of rebirth. When I asked why they would want to interrupt the cycle, believing that its something that everyone would hope for, the local explained to me that life is suffering. Its not something they want to experience again; they want to be free from life!! Death is a celebration... It was shocking and sad to hear something like that. Being so fortunate, its hard to understand that death is seen as salvation. 

In the evening we went to see the holy ceremony, called Ganga Aarti ceremony. Every evening, as dusk descends, its time for the performance. Its a spiritual ritual to thank the Ganges River for its existence and for taking care of its people and for having cleaned their sins for such a long period time. The ceremony takes place on one of the 84 stairs that go down from the city to the water, along the 7km coastal front (of which two are used for cremation). The people were playing music and giving speeches. I couldn't really follow the sequence of the ceremony, but it was incredible to see how many people attended every night by boat and land. 

Although the intensity of Varanasi, was what I expected, I was still overwhelmed. Therefore it was even more exciting when we were walking through the small, dirty and extremely bad smelling streets of Varanasi, actually ready to go back to the hotel from the festival, we passed by a place called, Organic German Bakeshop. Haha I thought it was quite funny, finding a restaurant like that in the middle of Varanasi, on probably one of the smallest and most hidden streets. It turned out to be a pretty amazing store, selling all organic and some vegan products, such as granola, cookies and even German bezel bread :) Full of excitement, we pretty much ordered the entire menu and ended with some good old pasta and schnitzel haha 

Could have been worse :P