Wow, I was sure these 40 hours would have been a nightmare but at the end the journey was so relaxing and pleasant.At the beginning of the journey everyone was staring at us as we were alien: "white human beings with no suitecases but huge backpacks?!?!?!?!"that's the general thoughts on the trains. After 40h this was the situation:
The backpacker charm doesn't have boundaries!
Ouuu Yeaaah
We became friends with all the people of our coach and these supersweet ladies offered us all the food they had and moreover they invited us to stay at their place but we gently declined the invitation because we had already booked a guesthouse.
I love travelling by train here because you never get bored!
VARANASI, THE HOLY CITY
I expected a lot from the holiest place for every Hindu and it didn't disappoint me at all.
The old city is still wondrous with its hundreds narrow streets although they are over-runned by motorcycles, touts, drug dealers, ravenous stray dogs and cows. The river Ganges is of course the main attraction, hindus call it: "the elixir of life", it says to bring purity to the living and salvation to the dead. Anyone who dies in Varanasi attains instant enlightenment. It's very common that old people come here to live out their final days in special hospices. The view of the holy river from its gaths(stairs in front of the river where people worship, take a shower, wash their clothes and DRINK IT) let you forget for few seconds how polluted is that water. Despite all these contrasts, Varanasi preservs its charm since thousands years being also one of the oldest inhabitants city in the world!
The ghats
It's always the right time and the right place to have a cricket match
Old city
Main Puja (prayer in front of the Ganges)
Floating flower
There are two special ghats called "burning ghats" where the cremations take place, here you can witness dozen of burning bodies. Hindus look at the death almost as they look at the born, it's simply the circle of life and if the person has behaved in a proper way during his life, there is no reason to be sad, he will have a "good" reincarnation. That's why I was surprised when I saw not even one relative crying during the cremations.
The burning ghat