Sunrise on the Ganges

One of our friends
see all photos »

(Finally filling in some holes...)

Varanasi was by far our favorite place in India.  After the usual Indian run-around (meaning that when we arrived a nice man told us he could give us a ride to a hotel we had found on the internet and after seating us in his tuk-tuk he proceeded to explain to us for about ten minutes why he was the best person to show us around Varanasi, he then very expertly drove us through the most insane traffic we have ever seen to the hotel we had chosen where after hearing that we only wanted to stay one night we were told there were no rooms.  We were then driven to another hotel recommended by our driver where we were given the same answer.  At this point our driver informed us that if we ever wanted to get a room in India we should never say we only want to stay one night because we will always be told there are no rooms.  Our driver then called one of his friends who happens to own a hotel and yelled at the man on the phone until he finally admitted to having a room and said he would hold it for us until we were there.  Feeling somewhat kidnapped at this point we dutifully hopped back in the tuk-tuk to be driven to the other side of the city and down a very small and questionable alley past several sleeping cows to the door of the hotel where our driver's friend was holding a room for us.  Ahhh...India.) we arrived at what ended up being a very nice hotel.

Laundry day
see all photos »

Our room had a balcony that looked out over an enormous tree growing in the yard of a decaying temple.  This enormous tree was home to several kinds of birds, chipmunks, and a large family of macaques (monkeys) who very much enjoyed sitting in our windows to watch us take a shower.  On top of the hotel was a little restaurant run by another friend of the hotel owner's.  From the very top level you could look out over much of Varanasi and watch as the monkeys jumped their way from building to building all accross the city.

Mother Ganga
see all photos »

On our last morning in Varanasi we got up very early to walk the couple of blocks down to the Ganges River to hop in a boat from which we could enjoy the sunrise.  We spent the next hour being rowed up and down the Ganges and watching as the sun burned all the fog off the dunes while on the other side of the river the first funeral pyres were being lit for the day.

Varanasi is a magical city that is held together simply by faith.