What's ghat?

Varanasi huh. I think my hard work in Jaipur paid off. After a 24 hour (!) train ride with Josh I arrived at 20.30 and was faced with a stinking train station bustling with homeless families sleeping on the platforms. We dragged ourselves and our increasingly heavy luggage to the rickshaw stand where a throng of rather keen rickshaw wallahs (dudes) begged for our attention. One offered us a good price to our vague destination so we took it. However, this dude then started giving us attitude about our choice of guesthouse, complaining it was too expensive. We had already been briefed by the Lonely Planet that Varanasi functions on commission so I thought it best to just ask for a lift near to an area with a lot of hotels and just wander around and choose one. This wallah knew our game.

The streets in the Old Town near the Ganga are ridiculously narrow. We're talking two metres wide. Cow width. They designed Varanasi for cow width. Why like dis? No rickshaw could possibly get through. Cows can barely get through. So he dropped us as far as possible and we tried to pay him. He angrily said that he would escort us there to get his commission. No way buster. I gave him the price we agreed and we cello.

Turns out these narrow streets are rather intimidating when seen for the first time during a powercut. Varanasi is constantly prone to blackouts. I hope the power lasts long enough for me to type this out! So we were walking through pitch darkness through unknown confusing streets hoping to bejesus that we were getting close to the Ganga and hoping that we wouldn't get battered by a cow or a motorbike.

Thankfully the guesthouses here have painted signs all over the walls giving directions which are just about visible in that light. So we chose one randomly and had a look inside. It was not so nice and there was no negotiation on price so I thought we try another. On leaving the guesthouse who do we find waiting in the shadows, smoking a cigarette looking like Mr Deepthroat? Our rickshaw dude. He said something ominous and when I asked why he had followed us he said:

"It is my job. I take commission. You tourists think that you keep the money. You don't keep the money. Varanasi doesn't fucking change when you arrive." Aww man. Wiseguy stuff huh? He suggested we just stay at this place. I thought, no fuck you buddy, we try somewhere else.

So we lost the creep, walked round the corner and got a couple of much nicer rooms for the price of one (good negotiation here - I think the guitars helped).

Oh, I forgot to mention, Josh had his bag nicked on the train. As I scribble this into my notebook I'm back at the train station, drinking chai, being harrassed by locals with limited English (I'm sure if I spoke better Hindi we would get on just fine) and waiting for Josh to fill out some kind of police report.

During our 24 hours of parallel line travel, I mentioned to Josh that the Lonely Planet suggests extra vigilence with baggage on this train route. And about an hour later as I awoke from a nap I hear the words, "have you seen my bag?"

"Uh, no Josh, I was kinda asleep."

"Oh."

"Is it gone?"

"Hmm."

A good deal of sighing later, a conversation with the train guards and some nifty prayer from the ever-hopeful Josh and his bag is returned safe and sound. It was rather miraculous. Whoever had the cheek to nick it had the good grace to leave it three carriages down the train with only a thousand pounds of travellers cheques missing. If his bag had remained lost he would have lost all of his books and contact email addresses. The genuinely valuable stuff huh.

And Varanasi. I have now had a couple of days to have a wander round, have a boat trip on the Ganga and see some dead bodies. Phew. I saw my first one being carried through the streets on a wooden stretcher. The corpses are wrapped in coloured material (colour depends on gender, age etc). My first was wrapped in orange, pink and gold and showered with those yellow petals that never fail to make an appearance.

Then I saw another. Then another. Then I saw one strapped to the top of a fast-moving jeep. Then I saw one propped up by a wall while its bearers took a quick break to chuck coins at children (?). India.

Once a corpse makes it to the 'burning ghat' by the river (turns out our guesthouse is right next to the burning ghat - full power) they are sandwiched between piles of logs and set alight. If the skull does not fully burn it is smashed (to release the soul) and the remains are thrown into the flow. The heads of male relatives (ok, I'm not too sure about this bit) are ritually shaved and they take part in the ceremony. Obviously it is a rather sombre experience. No photography is allowed in this part. A Korean tourist recently had their camera chucked in the river for taking pictures. Due to the utterly poisonous nature of the water in Varanasi, you wouldn't been too keen to go splashing about to retrieve it. Of course locals and pilgrims are plenty happy to get kit off and bathe in there.

This whole ritual happens 24 hours a day. All during the night I hear the sounds of the men chanting "her kaho jee her kahoo shree ram nam satya hai" which I've just been told by an Indian man next to me refers to Lord Rama, Lord Krishna and Lord Shiva and roughly translates "coming through, this man is dead." And the reason for all this fuss? If your body makes it to the Ganga within 24 hours of death, you are freed from the cycle of death and rebirth. So a relatively positive experience I suppose.

This morning, after a 5.30am start to have a sunrise boat trip I saw a small bundle of white material being carried towards the river. Aww man, it was a baby girl. Not so nice.

But Varanasi is incredible. It is a total feast for the eyes. I am constantly distracted by some crazy man, child, dog, cow, ritual, building, sunset. And what is rather lovely is that many people I met in Jaipur, Puskar, Dharmsala and Rishikesh are here so I have a whole stock of ready-made friends. Oh, and I swear to god, guess who has just popped her head into the internet cafe to say hi. Gili.

(Sigh)