Varanasi

Varanasi is one of the holiest cities in India. Long rows of stone steps, known as Ghats, line the banks of the Ganga River (Ganges) from the upper banks to the water’s edge. Indian pilgrims come to bathe in the Ganga, and also come to die, be cremated and have their ashes spread on the waters of the Ganga.

Varanasi is also one of the filthiest cities in India, and that is saying something. If you can do an early morning stroll along the Ghats without gagging, you have a truly strong stomach. You really need to watch where you walk because there’s excrement (and worse) everywhere. Personally, if I bathed in the river at sunrise like the thousands of pilgrims, I’d spend the rest of the day taking hot showers with plenty of anti-microbial soap.

Sunrise over the Ganga:


The Ghats at sunrise with early bathers


More Bathers in the Ganga. This spot is downstream from the crematoriums and a large percentage of the toilets in this region of India


Washing clothes. I’m sort of glad that I’m not in Varanasi long enough to be tempted to have my laundry done.
This place is downstream from the bathers, the crematoriums and a large percentage of the toilets in this region of India.


Laundry is dried by carefully arranging it over piles of dirt and rocks. One of the sheets is laying on a cowpie, but to be fair, it’s a fairly dry one:


Butt heads:


This is Lord Shiva’s cow:


Only in India could they invent such a novel way of peeing on your own feet in public:


Morning shave:


This is one of the cows that defacate outside my hotel. But cows are sacred here, so what can you say but “holy shit”!


The view from my hotel window. It could be worse, at least I don’t have to look at Varanasi.


One of my truly favorite things in India are the signs. I wonder if the patrons of this shop ever say “does this make my butt look big?”


Next time I feel like having a Mountain Dew, I’ll know to look for a Delicious Purity Station:


OK, I can’t even begin to come up with a smart assed remark about this one.