Varanasi

Date: 2 September 2010 16:01

"Varinasi is older than history, older than tradition, older even than
legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together!"
- Mark Twain

Claiming to be the worlds oldest city Varanasi is a rabbit warren of
alleys leading off in a tangle from the Ganges River. Most alleys are
between 4-6 ft wide and often the sky is not visible as the buildngs
stretch five or so stories high. The alleys are lined with stores,
hotels, temples and apartments. Store keepers often chew betel nut;
the addictive red nut that stains teeth red. Often their mouths are so
stuffed with it that they can barely mumble a reply in an attempt to
keep it all in. The betel nut spittle has to go somewhere so it is
spat against a wall or on the floor leaving horrible red stains
everywhere. Tens of thousands of Hindu pilgrims come here to visit the
river and burn their dead. Varanasi seems to lack toilets and so on
top of the spittle is a sea of urine from men who simply have nowhere
else to go. Add to this a parade of dogs deficating and eating garbage
and the whole thing becomes very dirty and surreal. Add thousands of
flies and venders selling food or making chai at the side of the
allies. Chai or lassies often come in terracotta cups that are smashed
on the ground after use. The whole thing quickly becomes very chaotic
and very dirty. Meanwhile, motorbikes horns screaching try to weave
past people in the 6ft wide allies. Bike rickshaws bring in supplies
further adding to the chaos while touts try to drag you to silk
factories or extort money while priests are constantly trying to bless
you. Meanwhile deadbodies wrapped in colourful cloth on stretchers are
born by singing men with male relatives following closely behind (up
to 200 bodies or so a day) (remember the alleys are 6ft wide at most).
Beyond a doubt the icing on the cake are the love lorn bulls chasing
cows down the alleys in the hope of a little action.  The huge bulls
literally charge down the alleys while people scramble to press
themselves against walls to keep out of the way of the horns. The
locals love it and laugh like crazy.

On to Calcutta by train tonight.

Tyson

PS I found my favourite kangaroo skin Australian hat at the bottom of
my bag heavily covered in several types of mold (the humidity and heat
here are almost unbearable). I washed it and put it on the balcony to
dry where it was stolen by a monkey.