Boat trip on the Ganges river in Varanasi at sunrise

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Day 20: VARANASI

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Ringgggg !!! Seriously it can't be ... It can't be time to get up! Is the day we visited the Taj Majal repeating itself? I look at the clock again and yes, it's 4.15 in the morning. We have to get up, today we are going to give a boat ride on the Ganges river in Varanasi at dawn!!
Almost without realizing it, we have left The Gateway Hotel Ganges and we are in the car heading to our destination this morning.
Naresh tells us that we don't pay for the ride 🙂 that by giving a tip to the boy there is enough. This walk is "house gift".
We are a little less than 5 minutes waiting for the boat to be “prepared” and as we see how life begins to emerge more and more on the banks of the Ganges River.
It keeps impressing us every thing we see.


We are still with our eyes half closed, but we don't miss a single detail.
And finally the time has come, one of the things we most expected from this trip to india.
We've been almost 45 minutes walking along the Ganges river. Traveling first from Dasaswamedh Ghat to Nagwa Ghat, then back and get to Manikamika.
As in other things we have seen in India, it is best to leave the images ... which are better than the words in these cases.


The tour begins. Boat trip on the Ganges river at sunrise

Varanasi images.Boat trip on the Ganges river

Baths at sunrise in a pboat cleaning by the river Ganges

Colors of an unforgettable sunrise on the Ganges river

Start life in Varanasi.Boat trip on the Ganges river

Washing clothes in the river Ganges

Amazing sunrise in Varanasi.Boat trip on the Ganges river

Dawn in black and white.Boat trip on the Ganges river

Time goes by almost without realizing it. From time to time we cross paths with others boats by the river Ganges, some of them are "stores", with anything we can imagine to sell.
This, for a few moments, reminded us of the day we went to the floating market in Thailand

More practical information to prepare your trip to India

- 10 essential places to visit in India
- 10 essential tips for traveling to India

In one of the moments of the ride, we see people making some fuss of a man who is bathing near our boat.
When we realize, we understand the reason for those calls.
Floating in the river we see a body, face down, carried by the current ...

Boat trip on the Ganges river

One of the most impressive and unforgettable images of the pboat cleaning by the river Ganges

Shadows in a dawn.Boat trip on the Ganges river

Letting us see this dawn in a pboat cleaning by the river Ganges

And now I ... Boat trip on the Ganges river

Boat trip on the Ganges river

Manikarnika Ghat on the Ganges River

Manikarnika Ghat from the Ganges River

When we go back again, after being in front of Manikarnika Ghat for a while, we already know that there is little time left for the walk, so now we almost stopped taking photos, to soak up all we can of what we are seeing in the Ganges river in Varanasi.


Boat trip on the Ganges river

Looking at the river Ganges

Varanasi Images

Dolphin restaurant from the Ganges river

Boat trip on the Ganges river

When we get off the boat it is just after 6 in the morning, so after taking a leisurely walk to the car, Naresh offers us to go to a couple of Varanasiantes Temples to go to breakfast.
And we can't refuse, we have to take advantage of the early bird.
First we go to the University area of Varanasi. The truth is that it is a very careful area and we see all the Faculties. Among them we see Sanskrit, where they say they study more than 2000 foreign students.
From here we go to the Vishwanath Hindu Temple. There we are little time, just to see it well outside.
The truth is that after these days, we have seen many Temples and although it is not very good to say it, the truth is that at this time we do not feel like seeing more.


Vishwanath temple in Varanasi

And from here to a temple of Varanasi over 250 years ... the Durga Kund Temple, which we also see only outside 🙂


Durga Kund Temple in Varanasi

Already being almost 8 in the morning, we return to the hotel of Varanasi to have breakfast and regain strength to continue the day.
This morning, as we partly need to rest for a while, we decided to take advantage of the facilities of The Gateway Hotel Ganges and spend the morning in a “relax” plan.
Almost without realizing it, it's time to go eat.
Today we decided to skip the Indian diet and the pasta diet and we go to a McDonals near the hotel.
We eat for about 500 rupees, two menus and an ice cream ... sorry, I could not resist! 🙂
We return to the hotel and around 5.30, we take a rickshaw that for 80 rupees takes us to the Ghats area.


Just arrived this afternoon at the Ghats ... Varanasi

Varanasi

The idea is to go to Manikarnika Ghat and see the cremations a little closer. It may seem morbid, but we feel a need to see it closely, not to judge it, not even to understand it ... we just want to be there.
And that is what we do, we go straight there and we are standing, watching everything for more than an hour, as we did the first day we arrived in this city of Varanasi.
Every moment that passes, if we stop to observe, hundreds of different scenes pass within the same plane.
Is incredible. It is a city that you hate and love at the same time. It's awesome this trip to india
Today we return to dinner at the Dolphin Restaurant in Varanasi. We go back up the four floors until we reach the restaurant and we arrive exhausted.
Today we had a plate of pasta, pakoras, cheese naan and a plate of potatoes plus a coke and water, all for 505 rupees.


Dinner at Dolphin Restaurant

It's almost 9 at night, so we bought a water before we left, to have change for the rickshaw and we're going to look for transportation to the hotel.
After a couple of negotiations, we got a rickshaw for 120 rupees.
But after 5 minutes, click!
Luckily the same guy, another driver is looking for us, who for the same price takes us to The Gateway Hotel Ganges.
Now it's time to rest, that tomorrow we want to do many things :)) It's the last days of trip to india And we want to take advantage of them.
Good night…

Day 21
VARANASI

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