Tag Archive for: varanasi

Night photograph of a chai seller in New Delhi, India.
,

71/ 100 Uttapams for Breakfast

First things first, to wake us up, a cup of hot chai was needed. They make this by boiling a very large saucepan of milk to which they've added grated ginger root and, of course, large amounts of tea. From what we saw, the whole steaming mixture never seems to be entirely used - they simply keep adding more of each of the three ingredients through the day.
Women weaving threads around a holy tree in Varanasi, India
,

70/ 100 Holy Tree in Varanasi

We left our apartment and walked slowly down the deserted narrow lanes we were quite familiar with by now. We emerged into the square that isn’t a square where market traders were already beginning to lay out their fruit and vegetables. The cattle and dogs were heaped up together by the embers of last night’s fire and the rubbish was piled up awaiting the sweeping women who would come along with their cart and collect it before the monkeys and goats spread it all out across the street again.
Black and White photograph of a dog sleeping on a scooter in a busy Indian street
,

65/ 100 Another Delay and Another Letter to Write

The clock on the wall behind the check-in desk inside Varanasi Airport told us things that we didn’t want to see. Apparently there were only about 30 minutes left to go until our aeroplane to Udaipur departed, and we were still nowhere near the front of the queue to even check in to the flight.
Elderly man sitting on a cycle rickshaw on the streets of Chandni Chowk in Delhi, India.
,

64/ 100 Spice Max

Being a little bit stingy I had booked our flights with one of the many budget airlines available, Spice Jet. Not only was the route cheaper than Air India, but because it was so cheap we could afford to splash out on Spice Max seats which were the best class on the aircraft
A rickshaw and handcart in Chowri Bazaar, Delhi, India
,

62/ 100 Two Rickshaws and a Taxi

On our second trip, in 2019, we decided to leave Varanasi by airplane instead, in the vain hope that it would be a bit faster and more reliable. Unsurprisingly though, it was also a journey fraught with problems which I will break down into bitesized chunks for the next few stories.
,

28/ 100 Buying the Flame of Death

Hindu people are cremated at Varanasi 24 hours a day, with women being strongly discouraged from attending the cremation itself. The principle of creation is that the body's ties with the Earth are broken, sins are burned away and the spirit can achieve Moshka, or enlightenment. 
Cows and the Crematorium
,

27/ 100 Cows and the Crematorium

We were told that if you are a Hindu, dying and being cremated in the Indian city of Varanasi, on the banks of the river Ganges, is possibly the best way to end your physical existence. So much so, in fact, that people nearing the end of their lives relocate to the town to be sure that they will be able to have the cremation ritual they want.
Cow drinking from a water tap in the street and dribbling into a water container used to fill up jugs in a cafe.
,

8/ 100 Drinking with the Cows

Compared to Western standards food hygiene in India can be quite poor to say the least. I'm certainly not saying that our food is better here in Europe, because it really isn't, it's just that I think we have much stricter rules about food preparation than they do in India.