Saturday and Sunday, March 9-10, 2013
Day 8 River Ganges Boat Trip
Transfer to the River Ganges and our small riverboats for two days of sailing. A full support crew will be on hand as we sail down river, passing village communities and viewing river life as it goes on around us.
Our crew will cook us delicious meals and we spend one night camping on the river bank in basic twin-share tents with common tented toilets. Life on the river is much slower than in the chaotic cities, so lie back, relax and literally go with the flow. The Ganges is a holy river, so in respect of this we enjoy vegetarian food and alcohol is not available.
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It took us about an hour and a half to drive up river and a day and half to drift, row, and sail down river. This Ganges River trip is unique to Intrepid. We were the only boats on the river with the exception of some local fisherman. In fact the four row/sailboats (three passenger boats and a cooking boat) are from a fishing village that Intrepid has made arrangements with for Intrepid travel traverse down the river. They are set up with lounging mats for passengers to lounge.
This trip is probably done only a half dozen times a year, and the village fisherman rotate and take turns. Intrepid sets them up with with the expectations, life vests, and camping gear. The boats are quite worn. However despite the holes in our sail, we were one of the fastest boats going down the river.
The food was plentiful and tasted wonderful. Sadly though, I think I contracted ecoli somewhere on the trip, and have been suffering with it for a couple of days. Despite the anti- bacteral soaps, gels and washing our hands with bottled water, the food handlers are not doing the same. Thank goodness we brought the cipro, flagyl, and cup of soups. Besides the latent effects of the trip, Russ sat the Kindle down, on the mat, and when I repositioned myself, I sat on it, breaking the screen. Bummer!
As sundown approached on the first night, we made camp on a sand bar peninsula. The sand was clean and white. The boat crew set up a mess tent ( hoards of bugs), and infividual tents for the campers. We fell asleep under a star filled sky and the constant, incessant sing song Hindu chanting, broadcast through mega, loud speakers mounted on every temple and shrine
Surprises..... The Ganges is cleaner looking than what we thought it would be. Unlike the muddy Mekong in Laos, the Ganges above Varanasi was clear enough to reflect blue. And there was no bad smell, The river bank was clear of debris. We can only imagine how filthy the water below the pilgrim city of Varanasi might be, with the millions of people, holy cows, defecating and urinating, cremating the dead on the banks, bathing and washing in it. It may have looked clean, but I felt myself gagging when the boatmen were dipping their cups in the river for a drink.
Sunday March 12, 2013
Days 9 Varanasi
Sail back into Varanasi.
Set off by cycle rickshaw to visit the oldest part of the city, bustling with tourists and priests, and see different rituals being performed.
Wander through the Old City with its maze of narrow alleyways packed full of small shops and stalls. See pilgrims bathing and performing rituals and ceremonies unchanged for hundreds of years; temples full of bell chimes and the smell of incense; the dhobi wallahs and the burning ghats.
Spend the evening soaking up the magical atmosphere of a candle flower ceremony, on a Ganges river cruise as the sun sets.
Start early with a sunrise boat ride on the Ganges, passing the many ghats and temples along the river.
We wanted to take an early morning photo of the Ganges, but our Cannon's telescopic lens crapped out. This is my third Cannon in four years, and each one has had this difficulty. This one is only seven months old. Glad I bought the replacement policy for this one, but it won't help me out until I return stateside. Good thing we carry a backup camera, which is also a little Cannon, but the quality of pictures just aren't the same, and the zoom stinks. We may be looking for a new camera in Dehli before we go into Bhutan. We'll see what's available.
We reached Varanasi after lunch on the river and then explored the Ghats, bathing places with long broad steps down to the river. Men bathed nakedly, and the women in their saris. There are no public toilets, so men and women squat where they can. Some early morning cremation fires had just burnt down, and cows were bathing in the river with the people as well. Again, the incessant chanting, gongs, and bell ringing continued. We saw several snake handlers, and pathetic beggars...little girls of 3 or 4 years carrying around malnourished infant siblings, elderly, handicapped people.
The most awful was the badly deformed man who literally snaked on his belly along the filthy road pushing a donation plate in front of him. With so many people begging, we tried to ignore most of them, but we did donate to the man on his belly. No wonder these people believe in reincarnation and a different new life. We worked our way to the old section of town where pilgrims often wait two days in a queue, sleeping in line on the filthy streets to get into one of the temples. Life here for most of them looks pretty grim and from the looks of things all the rituals, chanting, bathing, and superstitions does no good. They are so steeped in their religious beliefs and have been poor for so long, they don't seem to know or expect any better in this life.
Our guide took us to an Intrepid supported shop to learn about silks, block print textile cottons, cashmere, and pashminas. We sat cross legged on cream colored mattresses, where the propritor spread out the various textiles. It was fascinating.
Later that same evening, we took a sunset river ride to watch the temple ceremonies, and to cast wish candles to float down the river. I wished that no one would ever have to beg anymore. Didn't work.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Days 10 Varanasi
Start early with a sunrise boat ride on the Ganges, passing the many ghats and temples along the river.
There's plenty to see and do in your free time here:
Visit the Ram Nagar Fort which lies about 14 km from Varanasi on the opposite bank of River Ganga. Built by Maharaja Balwant Singh in the 18th century, it's the ancestral home of the Maharaja of Banaras.
Board our overnight train for Jhansi - the nearest junction to Orchha (approx 15 hrs). Sleeper trains are usually comfortable and air-conditioned (sometimes fan-cooled), a great way to travel long distances and still get maximum time in each place. Most of the time sheets, pillow and blanket are provided but some people prefer to bring their own sleeping sheet. Please note you may be sharing with locals in a same/mixed gender situation.
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Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Days 10 Varanasi
A Long 48 hours
About midnight I woke up feeling sick. By morning, I had made more trips to the bathroom erupting from both ends than I care to count. I had a pounding headache, dry mouth, and knew I couldnt't wander too far from a restroom. Russ went out with our guide and less than half of our group. Can't speak for the others who didn't go, but I was "pooped" out.
Russ took some great sunrise shots, and returned by 9:00 a.m. We had to checkout of our rooms by noon and had the rest of the day free until three when we took jeeps to the train station. Our train, wasn't scheduled to leave until six, but because traffic can be so bad at times, our guide wanted to make sure we go there in plenty of time. I stayed in bed with a pillow over my head to blockout the incessant music and chanting, until just minutes before 12:00 p.m. checkout. Then hung we hung out in the lobby until three. So much for free time. I looked like hell and felt worse.
We arrived at the train station at 3:45. It was teeming with hot sweaty people, moving in all directions or just sitting or squatting on the floors while everyone wove their way around them. We could no longer hear the incessant chanting and singing, but it was replaced with a loud speaker and an announcer who was enthralled with her own voice. She did not let up. Please, please shut up...I know, sounds bitchy, but my head was falling off. The part that was still attached was using all my reserve not to be sick. There were no toilets. Men and women were hopping down on the tracks or squirting against a wall to do their business. The stench was awful. Our guide and fellow travelers helped me seek out a place to sit. I put my suitcase in front me, bent forward with my head on top of the case and head pillow and didn't move for 3.5 hours.
The train was late.
As soon as we got on the train, Russ scoped out the bathrooms for me. The good news, there were both Indian squat toilets and western seat toilets. The bad news, they were both filthy. if I wasn't gagging before I went in, I was before I got out. We were in the first class sleeper car, too.
There were six of us in our sleep cubicle, stacked three high.
We did have air conditioning that worked whenever the train was rolling....which for an express train seemed to stop for great lengths of time. I think we were so far behind schedule that we now were giving way to other on time traffic. Suffice it to say it was a long, long night for me. Only curtains separated us from the passage way. Travelers moving about were noisy and the several times people would walk in our compartment and look around for an empty berth. The train was overfull. People were sleeping in the passageways on the floor.
By six a.m. we were to have reached Orchha. My head was no longer pounding and bathroom trips were less frequent....primarily because conditions in the toilets were deteriorating throughout the night and we were all holding it as long as we could.
It was early afternoon by the time we arrived. We took motorized rickshaws, to our hotel, and had until 3:00 p.m. to get ourselves rested before a walking tour of this small, quaint city. First thing we did was laundry and I took a shower. I've never felt so dirty. Once again, Russ went off with the camera, and I reluctantly but wisely stayed in the hotel room where I got some much needed rest and some quiet alone time. So the riddle of the day....Where in the world would you rather not be if you got sick....??? Hmmm. In our 3.5 years of cruising, I have never felt worse.
Tomorrow we will have a full day here, and I expect to be operational in the morning.
All is Well and Ok with the Worrall Travel R's
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