Varanasi
The train from Amritsar to Varanasi was a memorable one. We took 3AC class and were seated with a doctor, a dentist and an optician (great in case of an emergency)! We got chatting to them straight away because they were intrigued by Ahmad’s family history and wanted to know about our trip. Within a few hours, chai was being bought left, right and centre and the doctor man was referring to us as son and daughter.
They were pretty hilarious guys and were trying to explain what is important to people in India:
1. Education
2. Weddings
3. Getting better stuff than your next door neighbour (which reminded us of the sketch from Goodness Gracious Me with the two mums who are always bragging about their sons!)
We arrived in Varanasi early evening and took a rickshaw to the place we booked in Assi Ghat. The rickshaw driver was trying to show us different hotels but this is never a good idea! On arrival the hotel staff we pretty inflexible about us using a shower after checkout (usually fine in other places and completely necessary as Varanasi was 38 degrees) so I headed back out to find another hotel. The rickshaw driver was still waiting for us (no idea why) and said he knew somewhere around the corner. When he led me up a dark alley I told him to forget it and headed back to the main street where I bumped into a couple who were staying at the Yoga Mandir Hotel. They said it was pretty good and even gave me a map! Backpacks back on, we walked to Yoga Mandir (I nearly got run over by a charging cow in the process) and got checked in. We haggled a bit and settled on 300 but then we decided to pay the guy what he asked because India is so bloody cheap anyway, why would you want to take money from people? The hotel was great – it had a garden in the centre and the owner did free yoga every morning at 7am. He took one look at my hunch back (which has got progressively worse in the last 6 months) and offered to sort it out for me but we didn’t have time! We only stayed in Varanasi for 2 days which some people would sniff at but we were dead set on getting into the mountains before the temperature crept up to 40 degrees.
The next morning we walked the length of the Ganges. It was pretty low because the monsoon hadn’t hit yet and the cows were loving it. We went to see a burning ghat where locals take their deceased loved ones to be washed and then cremated before laying their body to rest in the bottom of the river (it is considered to be sacred). An Indian man talked us through everything and we saw two funerals taking place in front of us, I found it really emotional and started crying! The guy told me that there was no need to cry because the dead move on to a better life and although I am not religious, it seemed like a comforting thought. We decided to make a donation but of course the guy sniffed at it and made us cough up more – typical!
That night we took a rickshaw to Mughal Surai station – about 20km from Varanasi and had the worst 12 hours so far of my trip. We arrived at the station and the staring was the worst I had ever seen in India. The town itself was a dump and clearly, did not receive many tourists. We had a cigarette outside the station and at least 5 men asked Ahmad how much they could buy me for. When he told me what they were saying I had a shit fit and stormed back into the station. I needed the toilet so I left Ahmad with the baggage and trotted off with my 10 rupee note (you have to pay for most public toilets in India) still fuming. Three guys were sat outside the toilet playing cards and I gave them my note expecting 5 rupees change (the fee was marked on the wall) at which point they laughed at me and said I had to pay 10. I refused, pointed to the sign and demanded change – they thought this was the funniest thing they had ever seen and were blatantly taking the piss out me in Hindi. 5 rupees is about 8p but I was fucking fuming by this point and after 6 weeks of getting ripped off on a daily basis I refused to accept it. I screamed for Ahmad to come over and speak to these dipshits in Hindi but they still laughed and said no. Ahmad said that was fine and he’d just get the Police to sort it out. They started shitting it and gave me my change.
The train was delayed by about 4 hours and we were being attacked by ninja mosquitos. The staring continued and I was filled with dread because we weren’t even CONFIRMED on the train – we had been wait listed and were hoping for some cancellations. If we had to find a hotel in this hole of a place I would have broken down in the street. The train arrived and we nearly jumped on the conductor! He told us to get on and said he would see what he could do. The next time we saw him he said that he could help us out if we made it worth his while! I was about ready to cry at this point but Ahmad was so happy because he was finally getting to bribe someone!! He actually has a bribe fund. We waited in the corridor where some dodgy pissed up bloke was hanging around. He walked into the carriage, sat down on an empty bed and beckoned for me to sit next to him – sexual assault waiting to happen. The conductor collared him later on and shoved him back into sleeper class! 3AC is quite pricey so you normally don’t get dodgy folk around. The train attendant also wanted a bribe for pillows and blankets so we gave him 100 rupees (Ahmad grinning ear to ear) and the conductor presented us with two beds which we gladly handed over 500 rupees for. I was so happy we didn’t have to stay in that shitty town and were on our way to Darjeeling!!
I slept pretty well and we had a fair portion of the next day on the train to relax, read and have a few games of cards. The sleeper class carriage (normally locked) was open for some reason so we had to put up with children begging us for money all day but that was peachy compared to what happened next. A guy aged about 25 came in sweeping the floor and then asking people for money. When he got to us we said no and carried on playing black jack. He didn’t seem to be going anywhere and kept staring at me with his hand out. I looked up to see his penis hanging out of his fly and screamed at him to fuck off! We couldn’t believe it! At this point I wanted out of India – the country had taken all my patience. I have never been anywhere that can make you so exhilarated and amazed one minute and so completely pissed off in the next. You can feel about 10 different emotions in one hour and after 6 weeks I was ready to burn out. Ahmad’s patience had also been whittled down to the size of a toothpick!
We arrived at our destination and jumped in a rickshaw to Siliguri where we would get our connection to Darjeeling.