Varanasi

Colourful, vibrant, beautiful and filthy!! Varanasi, or Benares, is an oxymoron in itself.

Without a shadow of a doubt the dirtiest place I've been in India, impossible to walk down the narrow, crowded, cobbled lanes without a scarf wrapped around your nose to hide the stench and within 5 minutes your feet will be covered in cow shit. Yet, this is the holiest place in the world in Hinduism. Situated on the banks of the Ganges, Varanasi is were Hindus come to bathe in the river and doing so remit their sins and many people come to Varanasi to die under the watchful eye of Shiva, the destroyer.

My guesthouse, Shanti Guesthouse, was situated near Manikarnika Ghat (the burning ghat) were bodies are cremated on stacks of wooden logs throughout the day. Whilst walking down the narrow, cobbled streets on countless occassions I had to step aside. Avoiding cows, bikes and the crowd to make way for men brushing past me carrying dead bodies wrapped in brightly coloured silk tied to wooden boards above their shoulders as grieving family members shuffled behind clutching handkerchiefs and fighting back tears as they chant with the names of hindu gods interspersed amongst the hindi prayers. The procession would lead to the burning ghat were there is grey smoke funneling into the clear blue sky throughout the day as roughly 200 bodies are cremated one after the other with their ashes later being offered to the river by the eldest son. Children under 5, lepers, sadhus, pregnant woman and snake-bite victims are offered directly to the river. Standing watching the conveyor-belt cremations gives a sense of calm as you realise how natural death is, a common fate we will all one day meet.

Varanasi is full of "guides" who will take you to the Nepali temple, the burning ghat and all the other main attractions before suggesting a trip to his uncle's shop. When you enter his "uncle" will sit with you as you both sip chai and tell you of all the wonders in his shop and try to rip you off. One of these "guides" - a young boy, told me that there are lots of gay men that live in Varanasi and they have performances were they sing and dance dressed in beautiful sarees and draped in goldevery night in a theatre. Unfortunately, it was my last day in Varanasi and I couldn't check this out, if it even exists. If anyone has been or does go please let me know what it's like - I'm intrigued.

Tucked away in the back-streets is the famous Blue Lassi shop. Here, in this 70+ year old shop Johnny Depp (small, balding Indian man who has lived in Varanasi all his life) will serve you the best sweet lassi you'll probably ever drink for 30rs. I would recommend consuming a medium strength "special" lassi from here and getting lost in the vibrant, busy lanes of Varanasi