Skip to main content

BHU - Varanasi






We took a hiring trip to Varanasi and as the plane flight arrived and left midday, so we had some time to see the city. Varanasi was chaotic in the greatest sense of the word. There were even streets that no cars were allowed on, but were so packed with pedestrians and rickshaws, that it was hard to walk. There are also many small alleyways that wind throughout the city between the larger roads. I think you might be able to get lost in them.

The first night we headed down to the ghats and took a boat ride. The river was beautiful with tea lights in banana leaf boats floating along. That night we had a relaxing dinner at a Nepalese restaurant, which served Mexican and Italian food. Although difficult to find, the family running the restaurant was nice and the seating outdoors. There were just a few tables that felt like picnic tables.

The next day was spent interviewing, but we finished quite early so we headed to one of the ghats to meet Neeta's uncle. What a joy. He's been living there for many years and took us all over the city mostly to eat. We had paan, lemon tea and then headed out for street food. First a drink clouded with spices; then chaat galore, my favorite was tomato chaat which I learned is only found in Varanasi; then kulfi- an ice cream like treat that is served with a squiggly jelly topping; then more paan. I was so stuffed I thought I might lose it.



Interviewing Team


Paan #1

Drinks

Chaat


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Vizag: clean city by the sea

Visakhapatnam (or Vizag) wasn't on the radar. It is one of the cleanest places we'd been India. I had no idea it was a city in South East India or how to pronounce it. Only learned it existed because when we tried to get our boarding passes in the airport in Sri Lanka to come to India we needed to show an outbound flight. Walking across the boarder to Myanmar wasn't accepted. Next time will remember to book on a site that allows cancellation after 24 hours, but in the early morning panic that didn't happen. Then it turned out to be overly complicated and expensive to cross overland from India to Myanmar, so we decided to use the flights to Kuala Lumpur and come in from the South. Vizag was now in the itinerary. Get there We took a train from Puri to Khurda junction. And then transfered to a sleeper to Vizag. There is a waiting room in Khurda upstairs to charge phones and sit. Eat, drink, sleep - Sree residency was a great spot to sleep. It was cheaper online. G...

Mumbai: Sasson docks and colonial architecture

One of my favorite parts of Mumbai are the Gothic Victorian style buildings that abound the southern part. The Lonely Planet has a walking tour, which we followed part of and it can be combined with a trip to Sasson docks, a bustling fishing port, and Marine drive. To finish off, climb up the intercontinental hotel for a view of Marine drive at night when the Queen's necklace is all lit up. Southern part of Marine drive  There was so much happening at the Sassoon docks: boats being loaded with ice or unloaded of fish, fish being sorted, haircuts, games, children coming from school, and ice being crushed. It was cool to be in the midst of the hustle and bustle. Ice being crushed Loading ice onto the fishing boats Taking a pause from loading ice onto the boat Getting a haircut on the docks Fixing the fishing nets Squid being tossed off the boat Lady strikes a pose Lunch time on the fishing boat Love the brightly colored trucks ...

Mumbai, Take 3

I haven't yet blogged about Mumbai 1 or 2 yet as it's now Sept 10th and I last updated the blog in May for trips taken in March. I went through a training for the last 2 days and one suggestion for my profile is to make small goals and congratulate myself when I accomplish them, so expect more regular blog updates. Mumbai is an amazing city from my point of view. It has the ocean, sidewalks, rooftop bars, a fabulous brunch place called Olive. I'm hooked on the fact that I can walk for hours, which is how I've spent most of the time I've spent there. This trip was much the same as the first two- visiting my favorite places. Arrived on Friday night on a flight from HYD. It was remarkably shorter than coming from DEL. The traffic wasn't so good, so it took about 1 hour to get to Colaba, which is in the south. We stayed at Fariyas hotel. It was basic. Getting the bed types we wanted - 2 large - was a fiasco and we ended up with 2 twins and a rollaway. That night we ...