I was worried about train travel as our first experience was less than ideal, but the trip to Varanassi was the easiest travel experience so far. It was 8 hours of seated air conditioning with constant food being brought to us. A wonderful experience to erase the first one.
It took three forms of transportation to reach our hostel. First a tuk tuk, then a bike rickshaw (one guy pulling 6 people and three backpacks), and finally a 7 minute walk. Our hostel is on the holy ganges river, and Holy Ganges .... it is stunning!
Varanassi is hardly recognizable from twenty years ago. They now have a spectacle where once was a sleepy town like Pushkar. Souvenir hawkers, jumbotrons, and boats with neon lights have replaced evening serenity. But somehow and it's hard to undetstand how, it is still Varanassi. It's beautiful and has a wonderful feel. The kids, overwhelmed by the touts, do not yet agree.
Pics are the new delhi train station with a sea of tuk tuks, 2 images from the train, the packed Varanassi train station, holy Varanassi, Cate and a friend with a real baby monkey sucking his thumb, and a hindu ceremony from last night.
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