Varanasi

Varanasi (formerly Benares) is the holy city on the Ganges river. Hindus consider it auspicious to be cremated here, and pilgrims travel here when they grow old. I would also add that when you arrive and smell the city, you say "Holy #@%&$!" The 44 degree temperature probably contributed to the effect, but the open sewers didn't help.



I found a beautiful spider in my bathroom. Sunscreen bottle included for perspective.



My mom told me that when she returned to Canada after visiting me here, people kept asking her if she saw cows wandering around everywhere. She didn't, but she didn't visit Varanasi. In the cow belt, they ARE everywhere. I took this photo of a cow checking out the menu at a restaurant.



Sunrise and sunset boat rides are the best way to see the ghats, the steps down to the river's edge. Here people bathe, wash clothing, pray, teach, cremate the dead, and sell things. Because there were so many sales pitches, I often found it difficult to remember that most people come to the ghats to worship!




Lotus offerings to Mother Ganges float among the rowboats. Sometimes photography takes a little luck.



A little Photoshop work on the photo with holy men crossing the ghats. The bathing man wasn't naked, but the colour of his shorts sure made it LOOK like he was naked.