Varanasi is the holiest of all cities for Hindus. It is believed to be the city were lord Shiva dwelled at the begining of time and that those who die here are released from the eternal cycle of death and rebirth. People bring their deceased relatives to wash of their sins in the Ganges before they cremate them on the public bonfires on the ghats of Varanasi.
How to get to Varanasi from Nainital
This was quite the trip, probably the longest one I had done so far in India. I could not find a train connecting Varanasi to anything closer than Bareilly, which is some 130 km south of Nainital.
First take the usual transport of your choice to get from Nainital (or in my case, Bhimtal) further south to the next bigger town, Haldwani. I was lucky as a bus passed by just when I came to the streeet, otherwise I would certainly have found a shared taxi. That was a one hour drive.
Then from Haldwani you can, as usual, find a bus from the bus stand going south to Bareilly. This takes about 4 – 5 hours.
I arrived around 7 pm in Bareilly, but I booked a train at 2 am which was bound to arrive in Varanasi around 3 pm (the only other option would have been a train at 4 pm arriving in the middle of the night – I prefered to spend the night in the train and arriving in the afternoon). I managed to book a 1st class sleeper train for this – more expensive than 2nd class with ca. 2200 INR but a nice experience for sure (they are closed compartiments with 2 or 4 berths. In my compartiment was only one other passenger who got off the train around 10 am, so for the remaining 5 hours I had the compartiment for myself).
Varanasi
I can not say that I liked Varanasi very much. It is by far the most crowded and noisy place I have seen in 5 and a half weeks in India. The constant honking of the vehicles and the sheer mass of people, pushing in every direction and only passable very slowly in the narrow alleys, brought me to the edge of sanity. Maybe it is time for a country change 🙂
That being said, Varanasi also has a very beautiful and spiritual side, which can be found anywhere at its riverside.
The popular ghats stretch a good 3 km along the west shore of the Ganges. Here you can see all kind of spiritual / religious ceremonies – including public cremations 24/7 (be mentally prepared before you go there) – a plethora of temples and of course, for the visitors, as many different boat tours over the Ganges as there is room for boats do dock on.
Varanasi also marked the end of the first chapter of my journey. I may or may not return to India on a later moment to visit the north-eastern states of Sikkim, Meghalaya and beyond, but for now I look forward to discover new horizons in Nepal. Stay tuned to travel with me to Kathmandu and the mighty Himalayas!
Click on one of the pictures below to see the Varanasi gallery. I did not take any pictures of dead people.
