Varanasi

Spent 5 days in the city, which is rather more than planned, but the nature of train booking in India being what it is, well, i was here for 5 days.

And what a city! I have never been anywhere quite like it. Walking around its narrow back alleys, one is transported to medieval Europe, or the middle east. You really feel that you have traveled back in time, with the noise, dirty and busy nature of it all. And going back 100 years, what a city it must have been! The buildings here all display a faded, crumbling, neglected air, that certainly adds to the atmosphere, but which only makes one imagine what it once must have looked like.

Arches, plaster work, ornate doors frames....the list goes on. These days, the lucky ones are covered in generations of progressively cheaper paint. The less lucky have big holes in them.

The energy of this place is amazing. EVERYONE seems to be selling something, be it silk, food, transport, rooms, or photos of themselves (more on that later). The alleys contain weavers, tailors, rather alot of paan sellers, cafes, sweet shops (my new guilty pleasure - less fears about possible weight loss in India guys...the fried desserts will put an end to that! ) and cows, lots and lots of cows. This being a Hindu holy city, actually, make that THE Hindu holy city, the cow here has rather a prominent role, not only a sacred animal, but also as organic matter recycling unit. All of the fruit and veg peelings/left over food is dumped into the street, to be eaten by the cows. Their poop is then collected (eventually), and used to fuel the fires.... its a great system, let down only by the fact that there is poop everywhere.

People in Varanasi - 60% Young Koreans/Japanese, 20% Young hippies from France/Italy/Spain, 10% Hindu holy men, 10% everyone else

Finally saw the sacred Ganges river, and its bloody filthy. Makes the Thames look like Evian. And even so, there are plenty of fish swimming in it, although thankfully a lack of fish on the menus of the city.

Treated myself on the first day to apple pie and vanilla icecream at one of the 'german' bakerys dotted around the city. The the staff are from Nepal, and all the customers foreign, but the food on offer is expensive and great, and while I have pretty much only eaten Indian food since i got here, this was a little treat (and the pack of Hobnobs the following day). I attempted to make my own lunch, but with all guest houses lacking cooking facilities, I settled on a salad as the plan. Quick trip to the market and a small cauliflower, 2 small green peppers, 2 limes, 1 banana, 2 tomatoes, and a bunch of coriander later (all for the princely sum of 15rs (about 20pence), I was set (with the addition of the salt/pepper/sugar packs i still had from my flight) to make vegetables with a lime/salt/pepper sauce, and a glass of lime and sugar juice and banana for pudding. It was all rather terrible, but I enjoyed the effort!

Walked past a private school, set in lovely grounds, and it was breaktime, with all the kids running around a playing. Watching through the fence, were a bunch of street(wise) kids, and it made a great photo. The haves and have-nots, although the school uniform was HORRIBLE, red and yellow checked trousers/skirts with yellow dresses. The scene reminded me of a photo from the US, with poor black kids faces pressed against the window of an ice cream shop watching white kids inside.

No peace trying to read- sit down anywhere and soon enough people will be trying to read it over your shoulder, asking the usual questions, playing music or trying to sell something. Easier to just read in my room.

My time is up...will have to continue this at another date (sorry about the random nature of the posts... just writing up the notes i make in my book)