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...

Konark and Puri: see the Sun temple

A site noted that the sun temple at Konark is in the top 10 architecturally. It was on the way to Vizag, so seemed like a good place to stop and boy was the temple impressive. Get in It's a 8 hour train ride from Kolkata to Puri. Arriving at 12am wasn't ideal as tuk tuk drivers were limited and many guest houses full or closed. Eat, drink, sleep - The Pink House is a relic from the 70s. I'm guessing the cockroach in the bathroom has been there that long as well based on its size. Rooms are very basic, somewhat clean, and ours along the walkway was loud. However for Rs. 600-800, you can't complain too much. We also had decent food there. What we did - Puri beach is sadly a mess. Children playing on the beach and using it as a toilet (you had to watch your step). There is trash all over, the only upside of which is the boys use the styrofoam to make boats. Dude asking for photo on the Puri beach.  Children playing with self-made styrofoam boats ...

Bodhgaya: follow the Buddha's path to enlightenment

It was a pleasant surprise to discover that Bodhgaya, where the Buddha attained enlightenment was just a 5 hour train ride from Varanasi. How pleasant to go walk in the footsteps of this seemingly kind and thoughtful man. Having not done much research, I wasn't sure what to expect. What we found was a religious center for Buddhists and Hindus around the world and a struggling town, working to make ends meet. Get in We took a train from Varanasi which was 2.5 hours late and got us in at 1 am. After spending 2.5 hours at the train station in Varanasi with a sore throat and stomach bug, we decided to use the various train tracking websites. Then you can get auto (Rs. 120-150 is what we bargained) to Bodhgaya. It seems possible to jump in a shared auto for maybe Rs. 10. Eat, drink, and sleep Buttshinji temple is associated with the Japanese temple and has rooms for a Rs. 800 donation for two. Supposedly they charge for wi-fi, but we weren't charged. The wi-fi is ridi...