Lumbini was the last town we visited in Nepal. Seeing the very spot that Buddha was born was a tad anti-climatic, but it's probably because I'm not Buddhist or Hindi. Most of the stupas there were beautiful and elaborate, some of them bordering on ostentatious.
We crossed the Nepal/India border the following day in Sunauli. People are correct when they say it's not a place to linger, being a typical border town. We decided to stay in the night in Gorakhpur instead of arriving into Varanasi late at night. Gorakhpur was not pleasant, but it was a good decision. If we had arrived in Varanasi at night, I think we would've hightailed it back across the border to Nepal.
Having heard the wild tales from fellow travelers on the Annapurna treks regarding Varanasi, we were a bit scared of the city. American writer Mark Twain wrote: "The city is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together."
One hiker we met described it as the filthiest place on the planet, and certainly it has more than its fair share of dung, pee, garbage, and rotting food. Also, it's a place where Hindu pilgrims go to die as there is some get-out-of-jail-free card if you die here. If you are "lucky" enough to pass away here, you can be cremated in full sight of boats on the river. The smoke from about 50 funeral pyres per day certainly doesn't ease the air quality problems.
The Ganges River is used daily for devout Hindus to bathe themselves, as they believe it cleanses the spirit. It may cleanse the spirit, but it certainly does not cleanse the skin. The Ganges is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. There are 14 million people living upstream and not one single sewage treatment plant. The river has at times 65,000 times the safe level of fecal matter floating in it.
Having said all that, the city was not as bad as it may sound. The Ganges water didn't look or smell as dirty as we had thought it would, and the city was only slightly dirtier than some of the Nepal cities we had visited.
There is quite a lot to see if historic buildings are your thing, and the religious ceremonies at the river bank ghats in the evening were a good spectacle - lots of bell-ringing, chanting, and waving fiery objects around.
The accommodation was fairly nice, but the owner and the many helpers employed there gave it a very odd vibe. There was a feeling that we were under constant surveillance to make sure that all the money we spent was funneled through the hotel. They offered to walk with us to show where the nearest internet cafe was, even though there were several within a few minutes' walk. Almost every time we saw someone in the hotel, they asked if we had our train tickets booked or if we needed an Ayurvedic massage. Despite our constant refusal of their "help," the lure of a little commission seemed to affect their hearing.
Next stop is Jaipur...
We crossed the Nepal/India border the following day in Sunauli. People are correct when they say it's not a place to linger, being a typical border town. We decided to stay in the night in Gorakhpur instead of arriving into Varanasi late at night. Gorakhpur was not pleasant, but it was a good decision. If we had arrived in Varanasi at night, I think we would've hightailed it back across the border to Nepal.
Having heard the wild tales from fellow travelers on the Annapurna treks regarding Varanasi, we were a bit scared of the city. American writer Mark Twain wrote: "The city is older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together."
One hiker we met described it as the filthiest place on the planet, and certainly it has more than its fair share of dung, pee, garbage, and rotting food. Also, it's a place where Hindu pilgrims go to die as there is some get-out-of-jail-free card if you die here. If you are "lucky" enough to pass away here, you can be cremated in full sight of boats on the river. The smoke from about 50 funeral pyres per day certainly doesn't ease the air quality problems.
The Ganges River is used daily for devout Hindus to bathe themselves, as they believe it cleanses the spirit. It may cleanse the spirit, but it certainly does not cleanse the skin. The Ganges is one of the most polluted rivers in the world. There are 14 million people living upstream and not one single sewage treatment plant. The river has at times 65,000 times the safe level of fecal matter floating in it.
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| The beautiful waters of the Ganges |
Having said all that, the city was not as bad as it may sound. The Ganges water didn't look or smell as dirty as we had thought it would, and the city was only slightly dirtier than some of the Nepal cities we had visited.
There is quite a lot to see if historic buildings are your thing, and the religious ceremonies at the river bank ghats in the evening were a good spectacle - lots of bell-ringing, chanting, and waving fiery objects around.
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| River bank during the day |
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| River bank during night-time ceremony |
The accommodation was fairly nice, but the owner and the many helpers employed there gave it a very odd vibe. There was a feeling that we were under constant surveillance to make sure that all the money we spent was funneled through the hotel. They offered to walk with us to show where the nearest internet cafe was, even though there were several within a few minutes' walk. Almost every time we saw someone in the hotel, they asked if we had our train tickets booked or if we needed an Ayurvedic massage. Despite our constant refusal of their "help," the lure of a little commission seemed to affect their hearing.
Next stop is Jaipur...
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