John is up at 5am to go to one last Aarti ceremony at Assi Ghat. I decide to take it easy, shower and pack.

Upon his return, we bump into Paul in the lobby. Paul had gone for an early morning dip (full immersion) in the Ganges.  We head to breakfast at the Open Hand Cafe.  Such a relaxing place hidden amongst the bustling chaos of Varanasi. It’s become the group hangout.

After breakfast we meet up with Jasmine and Garima in our hotel lobby. Garima has hired a van to take us outside of the city to Sarnath, the location where Buddha gave his first sermon after his enlightenment. Marlene and Jim decide to have a relaxing day at the hotel.

The traffic going out of Varanasi is hair raising. Cars, tuk tuks, cows and dogs come straight at you, and it’s only at the last second that someone swerves.

 

 

In Sarnath we visit the Mulagandha Kuti Vihara Buddhist Temple marking the site of the first sermon given by Buddha after his enlightenment. Buddha lived in the wooded area for several months and the grounds are now a deer park and mini-zoo. The zoo has the biggest pelican I have ever seen. The animal enclosures are quite large and the animals seem well cared for.

A woman asks me for a picture. I take off my hat, glasses and backpack. She indicates that she wants the hat in the picture, puts it on her head and has her husband take her picture with me. Then the other family members take turns clicking pictures with me. A few minutes later they return with another family member for a pic.

Next two teenage boys approach and ask for my picture. They continue to escort me around the zoo. Jasmine joins me and they still stick to us.

The boys hold hands. We notice this a lot in India. Bromance is quite big here. Holding hands between brothers or with a male friend is not considered gay, it is a way of life. Unfortunately, although homosexuality is legal here, it is not practised openly as Indian society has very conservative views on the issue.

 

The boys follow a distance behind us as we look at an ancient stupa which holds some of Buddha’s remains.

We think we have lost the teenage boys when we move on to the Sri Digamber Jain Temple. A priest explains to John and I about the Jain religion. He shows us many pictures of naked gurus and explains the differences between Jain and Buddhism. The Jain religion does not kill any type of animal including bugs. They also believe that women cannot achieve Moksha (Nirvana) but must first be reincarnated as a man before this can happen. Reading the look on my face, the priest quickly states that in this aspect he agrees with the Buddhists who feel that women are equal and can also achieve Nirvana.

The teenage boys show up again as we leave the Jain Temple. We suspect we’re being followed.

The Sarnath Archaeology Museum is a short walk away and with only a 5 rupee entrance fee, even for foreigners, it must be the least expensive ticketed site in India. After checking our backpacks including our cell phones, we walk through the gardens to the museum. The ancient sculptures in this museum are very well presented. I notice our teenage tails close by.

Garima and I head to the washrooms…the boys follow. They are gone when we leave. Very strange.

Across the street at the Thai Buddhist Temple is a very large standing Buddha figure (weighing 1.5 tons). Ponds leading to the statue are coloured with gorgeous water lillies and populated with frogs. A small temple is also on site.

Tired out, we stop at a restaurant for lunch. A young sacred cow hangs out in front of the restaurant. At one point she puts her head through the door but is quickly shooed out by the owner.

 

 

Traffic coming back is even busier than going. Lots of jerky stop and goes as well as close calls. Jasmine looks green and gets sick once we return to the hotel.

Despite seeing people cleaning the streets, there seems to be more garbage in Varanasi than other places.

John and I take one last walk along the ghats. I go down to the river and fill an empty shampoo bottle with Ganges water. There are some unidentifiable substances floating near by. Once again I am horrified about the number of people who drink this water for spiritual purposes.

 

We pass a wedding party on Assi Ghat. The bride is dressed in red and the groom looks resplendent in his turban….as he talks on his cell phone. They are surrounded by mostly women, gorgeous birds of paradise in their brightly coloured saris. After so many funerals, it’s good to see a wedding.

 

I see the paint job is completed on a high wall but the shaky scaffolding is still up against the building. This scaffolding is loosely tied together and balanced on piled up bricks. I actually saw a man working at the very top of it on our first day. It just looks like an accident waiting to happen. 

We meet the gang for one more piece of apple pie at the pizzeria before packing our bags and heading on tuk tuks through the city. The drivers seem to be zipping in and out even more than usual. We suspect they are competing with each other because one of them points out that he arrived first.

I wonder to myself if they need a license to drive a tuk tuk. I certainly hope so.

 

 

Our 12 hour overnight train to New Delhi is already at the station. Jasmine and Paul are in another coach but the rest of us are together. Paul pops over to show us that electronic boards in the station list passenger names (including ours), ages, gender and seat numbers for all to see. So much for privacy.

Garima is horrified when a couple with two infants arrive beside our compartment. The husband is friendly but the wife seems angry at the world especially when she calls her brother to tell him that her husband is an immature idiot and she wants to divorce him. The husband pretends not to hear. She spends another few minutes extolling her husband’s qualities before ending her call and taking a breath.

Meanwhile Paul and Jasmine are situated with another family where the mother in law is clearly boss over the wife. Garima later informs us that this is quite common in Indian families.

It’s a bit like a slumber party in our compartment until we all fall asleep at the late hour of 9:00pm.

 

 

 

 

*Mulagandha Kati Vihara Buddhist Temple – free

*Deer Park and Mini Zoo – 50 Rs

*Sri Digamber Jain Temple – free

*Sarnath Archeology Museum – 5 Rs

*Thai Buddhist Temple – free