Deepak and Jyoti, our local guide met us at
5am at our hotel – Hotel Surya.
We were off to see the sunrise and the
pilgrims praying (from a boat) on the River Ganges.
Jim commented that there was still traffic at that time of
day. I said it is a bit like the
tradies’ traffic in Sydney that starts at 6am, an equivalent of sorts. It was so nice to have our own space
(rare in India) when walking the narrow alleyways down to the Ganges.
The Ganges was everything we thought it
would be. Wide, dirty, polluted but magical. It had a calm and
peaceful feeling to it even if there was the odd tout (salesperson) around at
5.30am trying to sell you postcards and bindi tikka (what the Hindu woman wear - signifies marriage).
It didn’t take long for
more boats to fill up the river.
Once again we are lucky we are travelling in the summer months, the
off-season for tourists. I would
hate to be here in peak season.
We did buy a puja (offering) to place in the
water of Mother Ganga (the river).
Watching the oarsman take a drink from the
river Jim’s comment was “I would rather clean my teeth with poo”. Well, he almost did. He moved from one side of the boat to
the other and the boat over balanced.
We all got a fright. The
oarsman gave us a toothy grin.
After the boat ride we walked through the
maze of activity in the narrow alleyways. Locals, pilgrims and tourists all on their way to somewhere and doing something.
We were back at the hotel for breakfast by 8.30am and a rest before meeting Jyoti again at 1pm.
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| 5.30am arrival at the Ghats |
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| Salespeople even on the Ganges - is nothing sacred |
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| Our pujas floating away |
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| Jyoti and I |
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| Pilgrims |
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| More pilgrims |
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| Cremation Ghats |
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