24 January
Although the train was only an hour late leaving Agra last night, by morning we were running 6hrs behind schedule, however the midday sun is slowly trying to burn through the fog and with luck there will be fewer delays.
While travelling across this seemingly endless fertile plain known as the heartland of India, The scenery rolls by like an endless green conveyor belt cultivated with mustard seed and what appears to be rice and other crops we do not recognise, interspersed with stands of trees, bamboo and rubbish strewn rural communities with their dusty cricket pitches where the game is played in earnest by the local children.
We have also noticed large colourful stork like birds along the way, but are not sure what species they are as it is impossible to take photographs through the grime of the train windows.
Varanasi, aka the ‘heartbeat of India’ is one of the three great religious cities of the world alongside Jerusalem and Mecca, This year and every 12 years the Kumbh Mela festival is taking place just a 3hr bus ride from Varanasi in Allahabad, where it is said that the Hindu God of creation landed on Earth at the confluence of the holy rivers Ganges and Yamuna, this auspicious place is where you can wash away your sins along with an estimated 30-40 million festival visitors and pilgrims, making it the largest gathering of people on the planet.
Stepping off the train at Varanasi is one of those life experiences that cannot be compared or forgotten, a maelstrom of people swirling in all directions, and a noise level that is off the scale.
Comparative tranquilitiy was finally achieved after a trek with our luggage through the narrow lanes of the old city to our hotel on the banks of the Ganges.
Sunset brings on the Ganges showtime, it’s been a long day.
Although the train was only an hour late leaving Agra last night, by morning we were running 6hrs behind schedule, however the midday sun is slowly trying to burn through the fog and with luck there will be fewer delays.
While travelling across this seemingly endless fertile plain known as the heartland of India, The scenery rolls by like an endless green conveyor belt cultivated with mustard seed and what appears to be rice and other crops we do not recognise, interspersed with stands of trees, bamboo and rubbish strewn rural communities with their dusty cricket pitches where the game is played in earnest by the local children.
We have also noticed large colourful stork like birds along the way, but are not sure what species they are as it is impossible to take photographs through the grime of the train windows.
Varanasi, aka the ‘heartbeat of India’ is one of the three great religious cities of the world alongside Jerusalem and Mecca, This year and every 12 years the Kumbh Mela festival is taking place just a 3hr bus ride from Varanasi in Allahabad, where it is said that the Hindu God of creation landed on Earth at the confluence of the holy rivers Ganges and Yamuna, this auspicious place is where you can wash away your sins along with an estimated 30-40 million festival visitors and pilgrims, making it the largest gathering of people on the planet.
Stepping off the train at Varanasi is one of those life experiences that cannot be compared or forgotten, a maelstrom of people swirling in all directions, and a noise level that is off the scale.
Comparative tranquilitiy was finally achieved after a trek with our luggage through the narrow lanes of the old city to our hotel on the banks of the Ganges.
Sunset brings on the Ganges showtime, it’s been a long day.
Sunset on the Ganges
Multiple cremations at Manikarnika Ghat
To many, this is a holy river and bathing in it will wash away your sins, we are destined to remain sinners as there is no chance of us plunging into this bio-hazard.
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