Varanasi Warnings Or Dangers

1 more image

without going too much into detail... (lest i tempt fate & muddy my path)

i, like alot of other people who arrive in varanasi, anticipated some sort of 'spiritual enlightenment/guidance,' of sorts. i even went so far as to 'seek out' a meeting with a spiritual guide... having asked around, i was put-in-touch with an "astrologer/holy-man of sorts," who will remain un-named... i paid ALOT of money to have this 'guru' reads my palms & face... take my date and time of birth - and proceed to tell me about my past, present and future lives. I won't bore you with all the details (!) but will say that - beyond parting w/quite alot of cash... this guy (without a shadow of a doubt) was trying to get into my pants.

following my first sitting, i was reluctant to see him again... he having suggested a "retreat" (for which i would be footing the bill, of course) that entailed travelling away to the middle of nowhere (for a week) and as he explained it, with neither of us wearing any clothing... need i say more?

he continued to phone the guest house continually & turn up at the most inopportune times, looking for me... he EVENTUALLY faded into the sunset on his motorcycle... and i wouldn't be able to repeat the awful things he claimed about me, in my past life.

a really disappointing, disheartening experience, to say the least. one i shall put down to being yet another lesson learned the hard way...

2 more images

a thing to watch out for, are the indian people (both children AND adult MALES) who are in the water as you sail down the river. several seemed intent on splashing you with water (which is not good, as you will see when you read on...) with some actually trying to CAPSIZE the craft... i could scarce believe it.

***Hindu pilgrims come to bathe in the river, a ritual that 'washes away all sins,' and the city is considered an auspicious place to die, since dying here offers 'moksha' (the liberation from the cycle of birth and death) People do their washing in this river... they have their daily bath... they swim... they even DRINK this water. Let me give you some information about this body of water.....
'The Ganges River is so heavily polluted at Varanasi that the water is septic - no dissolved oxygen exists. Samples from the river show that the water has 1.5 million faecal coliform bacteria per 100ml of water. In water that is safe for bathing - this figure should be less than 500!!'***

Need I say more? But I will..... on our early morning cruise down the River Ganges, we saw such 'floaties' as a human corpse (wrapped and tied in plastic...) a huge, skinned buffalo-carcass... a rat... and the obligatory, every-day, human faeces... to name but a few.

1 more image

having indulged in a sunrise boat trip down the river ganges, whilst engaged in conversation with the 'con-man,' (see TOURIST TRAP) learning all there is to know about the Indian burning ceremony... I happen to glance over to the water's edge... where I see two dogs... chowing down on what appears to be (and IS) a human thigh bone. I mean, this thing was black and charred, a meaty, ham-bone-looking-thing... I had initially thought that there was something 'romantic' (probably not the best use of a word) in the Hindu's having their own, very different way of doing things at the end of one's life. But I cannot express to you, my revulsion at what I was watching. It was the most god-awful, sickening, vile, disgusting thing that I think I have witnessed to date (and I've seen some pretty horrific things) Those two animals... having lunch.... on somebody's loved one. Words just cannot describe.....

Since Varanasi was known for its silk, I decided to have a silk jacket and trousers made from a tailor in the Raddison where I was staying. They told me they would have it made in a few hours and several others also decided to do the same thing. This experience was very disappointing. The jacket was poorly made and didn’t fit properly at all. I gave them another chance to get it right but really, there was no way they could without a total remake. I decided not to take the clothes and there was no dispute as they could clearly see the jacket fitting poorly. The others were not happy with their items either but took them. I am sure there are some very good tailors in Varanasi, this one unfortunately was not one of them.

Like all other tourist areas of India, you will find the usual touts in various forms. If you arrive in a group, you will be besieged by postcard sellers and other trinkets and crafts.

You need to also be careful of pickpocketers especially in the temples. Be sensible in not flouting any valuables or sums of money.

1 more image

As with anywhere in India, take care on what you drink and eat. In Varanasi, be careful in the evenings when the sun has gone down. During the day things are fairly safe but at night, everything changes. Marijuana is popular and while violent crime is rare, there is still crime to be aware of. Power outages in India is also popular and it may be difficult to negotiate the narrow Gali’s in total darkness if you find yourself out in one. Women should also remember to dress conservatively and not draw attention to themselves.

Just be aware of your surroundings, the culture you are visiting and behave accordingly.

The Ganges unfortunately is also one of the most polluted rivers in the world. Much of it is made up of untreated raw sewage (around 300 million gallons per day), rubbish, food and animal and human remains. Because of this there is a huge amount of waterborn diseases suffered here such as cholera, dysentery, typhoid and hepatitis.

1 more image

Taking a bath in the holy water of the Ganga river washes away your sins - purifying your soul. So, people thought, why shouldnt it be good for cleaning the clothes, too? Not only common clothes get washed in the "cristalclear" water, no even the doctors coat, mouth and head cover for operations get "cleaned" in this river water. And additionally these clothes were put on the "clean" ground of the Ghats to dry in the sun.............

Think twice about giving your clothes to the laundry :-)
Not to mention ending up in a hospital in Varanasi.