Our sleeper train was an experience to be sure, but a relatively tame one. While Justin had nightmares about his house collapsing in an earthquake, and Dana was trying to forget about the two rats fighting under the next seat, there was sleep to be had, and all of our stuff was there when we woke. We groggily shuffled off the train, into the sunrise, and onto a bus.

Our bus delivered us to our next interesting mode of conveyance: three small river boats and a kitchen boat, crewed by slim but very strong men who would row us down the river Ganges over the next two days. As an added bonus, we would be fed some of the the most delicious food we had during our time in India.

Our chariots await

Justin getting in the way of a shot of our boatmen

We camped overnight on a sandy beach, deserted but for a few friendly stray dogs named Julie & Tiger by the boatmen. You’re not supposed to pet strays (rabies and all that) but we couldn’t resist. In the distance, we saw an Hindu temple in the sunset.

The vanguard of the beach

Julie is on the left, Tiger is on the right

After some sweaty frisbee football, a weak attempt to learn cricket, and a yummy dinner under the stars, we tucked into our tents to try to sleep in the sticky hot evening, still covered in sand. My kingdom for a fan!

Frisbee football in the sunset

Sunset over the beach

For those who have noticed that we were camping next to a river, and that our problems could have been easily solved, we had our reasons for not taking a swim. Specifically, the Ganges is the fifth most polluted river in the world. The issue is so bad that the pollution has an entirely separate wikipedia article from the article about the Ganges.

It’s beautiful, if a bit dirty

Our guide promised a wakeup call the next morning, so we wouldn’t miss the sunrise. This turned out to be a bit more unorthodox than a shake at the tent door. We were roused by the temple we had observed in the distance, playing the morning call to prayer. This in and of itself was intriguing, but the icing on top was the backing track, which was definitely some sort of Indian Dubstep.

Sunrise

Pictured: Enjoying the sunrise. Not pictured: the sound of transformers having sex.

In the morning we continued to drift down the river for a few hours, and had the privilege of seeing a few of the pink river dolphins that live in the less populated parts of the Ganges. Who knew that river could support life? They’re blind because of the high pollution levels in the river though, so maybe “support” is a strong word.

City on the river

After leaving behind our friendly boatmen, we took a bus to one of the oldest cities in the world: Varanasi. This holy city is on the Ganges, and immediately struck us as having a different atmosphere than anywhere else we’d visited yet. There is a long river-front promenade running the length of the city, with steps down to the water, which is divided into sections called Ghats. If you’ve seen pictures of people bathing in the Ganges, they were taken from one of these Ghats. The Hindu religion believes that cremation leads to purification, and that the Ganges cleans away sins. Cremations are performed along the riverbanks, and the remains are dumped into the river.

One of the ghats of Varanasi

All sorts of locals enjoy a refreshing dip in the river, water buffalo included.

We took a boatride at dawn to see the sunrise, and the view of the city from the water is even more beautiful.

Dawn paints all the buildings with a rosy hue.

We saw a lot more tourists, but the area also had a hippy/artsy undercurrent. The fact that it is a holy city permeates everything- even the cows here seem more peaceful. Street art plasters the walls, advertising yoga studios, vegan bakeries, and peace and love, man.

The animals are clearly feeling the love, too.

Shiva, god of destruction

Some cool street art that reminded Dana more of something you’d see in Asheville, NC.

A goat helping himself to a holy man’s offerings. When the monk returned, the look on his face was pretty priceless.

A massive bull resting peacefully amidst all the hustle by the water.

In the evening we took a boat out on the river to see the fire ceremony that happens on one of the ghats every night. Hundreds of boats are lashed together on the river so people can watch the ceremony, which is a hightly coreographed dance where monks chant and wave around big candelabras. We couldn’t see much of the ceremony itself, but it was fun watching all the jostling of the boats around us.

You can barely see the monks dressed in orange on the stage.

The shoving of boats and yelling of boatmen around us was more interesting than the ceremony itself. Occasionally boats would come slamming into us with splintering cracks.

We had our own fire ceremony later on the roof of our hotel. It is possible to buy fireworks in India that would absolutely be illegal in most of the US! Fireworks are a common part of the Diwali holiday, which was coming up, so AK got us some.

Sparklers never get old

Err…whoops

We spent a few days absorbing all the brilliant colors, sights, and smells of the city before saying goodbye to Varanasi and heading to the border of Nepal. It was probably our favorite city in India, and we were sorry to leave it but eager to see what awaited us in Nepal!

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