Varanasi, India

Well, I made it into India after an extreme day of travelling that started with a bus at 9am and finished with a train arriving at Varanasi at 4am the next morning. I am so glad I decided to come to India for a few days, because it is entirely different to any other country I have ever been in before. Immediately the traffic was hundred times worse, there were cows on the street and general chaos everywhere.

Varanasi has to be the dirtiest city I have ever been to, hopefully in the world. We found a haven of a guest house in misdt of the grime, so much so that during the 36 hours spent in Varanasi we spent the majority of it on the roof-top restaurant safely away from the dirt, smell and touts! The people are so harrassing, they ask you repeatedly if you want to go to their silk shop or in their rickshaw etc. Even the most friendly of them who you think are genuinely trying to help...ask you for money.

The level of the Ganges is extremely high at the moment which means that walking along the ghats (steps) on the riverside was impossible. This forced us to use the back streets to explore the city. Back streets barely 2m wide, cramed with stalls, people, beggers, cows, shit, rubbish and the smell was simply awful. I thought I had a strong stomach but it was pushed to its limits on a number of times. Sian and Jim thought it was hilarious when a cow pissed on me!

Despite all this, the city is remarkable. The ghats along the river are very pituresque (especially viewed from the safety of a boat!) and there are many hidden shrines and temples squeezed into the back streets. It was very interesting to watch the religious ceremonies, thousands of pilgrims visit the city. There were also many funeral processions which make their way to the "burning ghat" where the cremations take place daily, this happened to be very close to our guest house.

I was certainally thrown in the deep end with my first experience of India, and after 36 hours in Varanasi (it felt a hell of a lot longer) I felt it necessary to leave.