Hello friends and family and greetings to you from Varanasi,
India!
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| This is a child. What the heck. |
Honestly I do not even know how to begin recapping the past
few days, but if I don’t write it down now, I will never remember. Each day feels like 5 days of my normal life
crammed into one. I have searched and
searched for a quiet place to write…which is difficult to find in India. However, I have found a place that has a
table and free wifi so I figure I should take advantage of the opportunity while
I have it!
Our second day in Delhi was full of sightseeing. We started off at the Spice Market. I don’t know what I was expecting, but the
spice market was more chaotic than I could have imagined. Usually when I think of a market, I think of
rows of shops and little stands selling different items. However, we didn’t even know we'd arrived at
the market until our rickshaw driver told us to get out. We walked around for a bit trying to
understand how to even make our way through, but it was literally just chaos
everywhere. Pictures don’t do it
justice. There is just so much happening
everywhere all the time. One minute
you’re looking at buying some cashews and the next minute, you turn around and
BAM! there’s an elephant.
Anyway, just a
casual day at the spice market.
Next was the Red Mosque.
I can’t say much about it because there isn’t much information when you
get there. We had a bit of a cute moment
with the guy at the front who was charging us to get in. Only foreigners have to pay. I don’t know how they could spot us in the
crowd…anyway, they don’t charge per person they charge per camera. I was holding my camera, so Dad paid for me
and then when he tried to walk in the guy said “No, sir you need to pay for
your camera”. Dad said he didn’t have
one and the guy said (with a bit too much confidence if you ask me) “No, your
mobile has a camera.” I was very excited
to say “He doesn’t have a phone.” The guy didn’t believe me. I said, “Trust me, this guy’s never had a
cell phone and he’s not paying to get in.” And then we walked in! I am getting much more assertive after being
here for a while. More on that later.
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| Lots of taking the shoes on and off...don't know why Dad didn't bring sandals on this trip... |
Next, we went to the Red Fort. This was recommended to us in the Lonely
Planet Guide Book. There was a lot
of…land to look at. And, well, I guess a
lot of fort to look at as well. However,
it seemed more of a place where Indians go to relax and enjoy some peace and
quiet (no elephants at the Red Fort) rather than a really interesting
sightseeing opportunity.
We walked
around for a bit and then met our driver who said he was taking us to an
“underground marketplace”. That sounded
intriguing. You can imagine my
disappointment when he dropped us off at a tourist shop that was simply in the
basement of another shop. I guess
technically we were underground, but I was unimpressed. And frankly, annoyed. I told him we didn’t want to go to any shops,
yet he persisted. To make matters worse,
when he dropped us off after our little rickshaw tour, he said he would like
2,000 rupees. We had agreed on 200 at
the beginning of our tour. I was so fed
up at this point that I said “Listen, you took us to the three places we wanted
to go and we are paying you the agreed upon price.” He then had the audacity to say that the
price he quoted at the beginning was just for the spice market. LIES.
COMPLETE LIES. I actually said
“No, you are lying to me. I have no
patience for lying. I’m done!” and
walked away. I left Dad alone to pay him
while I literally stormed off. Dad and I
kind of have this “good cop/bad cop” thing.
Who would’ve thought I’d be the bad cop.
I think after awhile I just get so annoyed with people thinking they can
take advantage of me and just blatantly lying to my face that I don’t care about being too
aggressive.
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| Ghandi's Statue |
After our rickshaw experience, we were happy to get in the car
with our other driver. He took us to
Ghandi’s tomb which had lovely gardens.
There were many school groups visiting the site that day and they had no
shame in coming up to me. Excuse me,
following me for many minutes and then eventually asking me for a picture. Normal tourists would get sick of this, but I
soaked up every moment and obliged them all.
Eventually, Dad had to say “no more pictures, sorry we have to keep
moving” and I would just say “sorry, my security is telling me I have to go,
sorry!” and they would say “It’s ok! Thanks for trying!” I really need to re-evaluate my security
team, now that I think about it. There
was also a family of three who asked me on 4 different occasions for
pictures. We kept running into each
other and I think they felt that each time we met, they should ask for a
picture just…because…I’m not sure, but it was pretty funny.
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| The mother/daughter from the family that kept following me |
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| My faves. |
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| Dad has his moments of celebrity from time to time as well. |
To be honest the rest of the day was a bit of a blur. We went to Humayun’s Tomb. It sort of looks like the Taj Mahal but it’s
not. That’s all I really know about that. Then, we went to the Gate of India. It’s kind of like the Champs Elysees but it’s
not. That’s about all I know re: that
one as well. There was another tomb in
there somewhere but I clearly can’t tell you anything about it anyway.
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| Humayan's Tomb |
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| Not the Taj Mahal. |
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| Another tomb...I think. |
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| Gate of India! |
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| Indian Toilet! |
The big adventure for our second day in Delhi was our
overnight train ride from Delhi to Varanasi.
This train station was SO crazy.
There were hardly any signs in English, but after some fumbling and
critical thinking, we found the platform and the correct car. We were sharing a
compartment with two people who were not too excited to see us, I’ll tell you
that much. At first I just thought they
didn’t speak English which was why they ignored my “hello” and attempt at small
talk. However, I later realized that
they spoke English, they just didn’t want to talk to me. It was quite funny, however, because Dad
thought the two of them just got married.
Before we left, the girl’s father and brother were in the cart, saying
an emotional goodbye. She then cried for
most of the train ride. I was astounded
at how the two of them didn’t speak to each other at all. For most of the ride I was imagining what
their marriage would be like. We
realized when we got off the train, however, that they were complete strangers
and had nothing to do with each other.
Hence, the lack of conversation and chemistry between them.
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| Morning View On The Train |
Overall, we had a great experience on the train and were
excited to arrive in Varanasi. It was
quite an intense arrival as we had about 15 men asking us to take us in their
tuk tuk as soon as we got outside the station.
Classic situation. We went with a
guy who said “100 rupees”. Great. He is happy, laughing, singing and I’m
thinking the morning is off to a great start.
Then, he tries to drop us off even though we are not at our hotel. I showed him on the map that we were in the
wrong place and he didn’t seem to care.
Thankfully, his friend came by and asked us where we were going. He then had us follow HIM and we got to our
hotel. Then, like clockwork, he says
“150 rupees”. NO! Just, NO! WHY???
Again, I was so frustrated not because 150 rupees is that much more, but it’s
this whole idea of saying one thing and then going back on your word. I hate it and I have no patience for it. Again, I played bad cop and let Dad deal with
it.
Our hotel here in Varanasi is…interesting. They are doing a lot of construction so
everything is covered in dust. They only
turn the hot water on at certain times and toilet paper seems to be very
scarce. Don’t get my dad started on the
toilet paper situation here. It’s not
that they don’t have it. It’s that each
roll comes with enough toilet paper to last one sitting. This has led to us asking reception for
multiple toilet paper rolls every day.
Anyway, that day we met with a guide who was going to take
us on a walking tour around Varanasi.
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| Lots of cows...everywhere! |
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| I learned my dad used to be afraid of bulls. Maybe he is STILL afraid of them because he always wants ME to get a picture with them... |
Varanasi is located right along the River Ganges and is “the holy city”. Varanasi is believed to have been inhabited by people for over 5,000 years. The river is the heart of the city and the main reason for Indians to visit. Our guide’s name was Rumi. He was really wonderful and we had a great time with him. He taught himself English by watching television and speaking with Anglophones in Varanasi (he was born here and has never left). However, after spending a day with him, we realized that metrics and anything to do with numbers were not his strong suit. It ended up being quite comical because Dad would ask questions like “How much would this apartment cost?” in reference to a one room shack that is falling apart and he would respond with “50 million rupees” which is about 1 million CAD dollars. Or, I asked what percentage of India is Hindu and he said there were more Muslims than Hindus in India. I looked it up afterwards and India is about 75% Hindu. Anyway, he was so nice and most of his information was accurate, but it was just funny because some of his answers were “330 billion dollars” etc. He mentioned a lot of numbers that just didn’t make any sense.
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| Washing clothes in the river and drying on the ghats! |
After walking around for a few hours and seeing Varanasi
(which is exhausting in itself because all the narrow alleys are filled with
people walking, cows passing by, and motorcyclists honking their horns). I feel like even walking around here is stressful
because you have to be so alert all the time.
The big event that night was going to the traditional ceremony on the
river. It is the ceremony that worships
the God, Shiva. In Hinduism, Shiva is the "destroyer of evil and the transformer" within the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity that includes Brahma and Vishnu. I can’t say I understood a lot of the
ceremony, but it was about an hour long and involved lots of fire. There was music playing throughout the
ceremony and we watched from behind as 5 priests worshiped the river and
provided various offerings to Shiva.
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| Dad and Rumi |
I think that’s enough information for today! I will let you know about our other days in
Varanasi in the next post! We spent more time on the river and were able to learn a lot about the history and religious traditions of the Hindu people in this city. There is so
much to see here, it can be difficult to cram it all in to one entry! I can honestly say that India has been an
emotional roller coaster. I’ve only been
here for 6 days, but it already feels like a lifetime. I have highs and lows, and lots of moments of
frustration, but I’ll tell you all about that next time...For now, I will sign off!
Sending love and hugs to you all!
A
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