Someone said to us that you haven't been in India until you go to Varanasi. If that is true, we have truly arrived!

Life in the morning at the Ganges river

I wish I could easily explained all we have experienced, saw, felt and lived in Varanasi. There are places and there are places, and then there is "this place". At a distance, the incredible buildings's facade on the Ganges river are of out-most beauty, especially at sunrise. Even when they are  semi-demolished and half painted you can really attest for a city that is vibrant and full of life. The disheartening time comes when the intense and permanent urine odor mixed with incense makes it difficult to enjoy.

Laundry and Dry Cleaning!!

Cows and people alike enjoying a bath

 One fellow traveler commented: you can't control this environment, you need to just be. Well, the "just be" includes having eyes everywhere so you don't step into a cow, mountains of  cow shit, rats, monkeys, dogs, buffaloes, goats. All while trying not to be crushed by the tuk tuks, the motorbikes, the bikes, the cars and the tractors and balancing off not to fallen into any street hole or being pushed against the piles and piles of rubbish. 

And the people, poor and poorer live in what I can only describe as a "meditative state of mind", so accustomed to the environment to the extent of being desensitized. Varanasi is a holy place but it did not heightened our spirituality.We promised to suspend judgment in this trip, and this place definitely push us to a test.

It was overwhelmed, just to say the least. 

Hare Krishna blessing of the river

On a calmer note, hundreds of boats of any kind make their way at night to enjoy the Hare Krishna's blessing of the river. Music, dancing, drumming, praying, full of colors.This is the same river where the full life pass in front of your eyes: it is in this river where young and old take a bath each afternoon and brush their teeth every morning, where all the clothes are being washed and bashed up to a stone for drying; where all the animals drink and sunk and where the dead are given the "final wash" before being cremated at the shore.

Last bath and cremation

Important note: we are honest and authentic when sharing our  journey. It reflects only our emotions and experiences; we do  it with the most profound care and we do hope that all we expressed can be understood within that context. I (Gracie) was extremely upset in Varanasi and wrote my notes with such a sense of despair and sadness....