Varanasi: A boat trip on the Ganges at sunrise

We started this day with a "classic" in Varanasi: boarding a boat to sail along the banks of the Ganges. Very lively in the morning since it is one of the privileged moments to come and bathe/purify, do laundry and other usefulness that they could find in coming to the banks of the sacred river.

Departure from Assi Ghat

Up at 6am, we get ready quietly, the meeting being set for 7am and the ghat is only 10 minutes walk from our hotel. The morning atmosphere is very appreciable, it is calm, because there are no horns honking everywhere or even many people in the streets, in fact, it is deserted.

As the sun is barely rising, the temperature is still bearable, I still have the feeling that Indians are late risers, proportionally at this time, the streets in Thailand are already full of street food joints filled with workers having breakfast.

Arriving near the boats at Assi ghat, we only came across a few cows and locals sleeping outside, due to lack of space in their family huts...

Here we go !

Scenes of life along the Ganges

We are a bit early. We were actually waiting for the person we had negotiated with the day before, but nothing on the horizon. Until a guy approached us and in almost non-existent English, managed to make us understand that it was indeed with him that we were going to do our walk. Ok as long as we can go, in the end, it doesn't matter who the person is who accompanies us.

Normally, we had read that this type of tour on the Ganges lasts about 2 hours (1 hour there and 1 hour back). The fact is that our rower being in a slow average, we will actually take a little more. If we add the stop time at the main ghat, where the cremations take place (1/2 hour visit roughly), it is in total a small walk of almost 3 hours.

Observing these ghats is a bit like witnessing a past that is still present.

The time it takes to sail from Assi Ghat, our starting point, to Manikarnika Ghat where we turned around, is about 2,5 km. Almost every ghat is lined with a temple, earning Varanasi one of its obvious nicknames: "the city of temples".

The boat moves slowly along the banks of the Ganges, giving us plenty of time to observe the population bathing, washing themselves or their clothes, purifying themselves, practicing yoga or meditation. This also leaves time to admire all these famous temples, similar to forts suspended at the water's edge.

Looking at old photographs and paintings from 100 years or more ago for this article, it really gives an impression of a time frozen. Overall, the rituals, scenes of life surrounding the ghats and even the backdrop that is the ancient city, have remained virtually the same for centuries.

On the Ganges – Benares in 1883

Manikarnika Ghat: the highlight

Arriving at Manikarnika Ghat, we are offered to go down for a little visit, at the time, we don't really want to, but apparently, we don't really have a choice, we're not stupid, we can guess why. Manikarnika Ghat is the main place where cremations take place. The day we were there, it was rather quiet. One pyre had just finished while another had just started.

Photography is obviously prohibited there.

As I said in the article presentation on Varanasi Cremation is expensive, depriving the poor of such a right. They are not alone, however, as children under 5, lepers, snakebites, suicides and pregnant women are also affected.

For all these people, their bodies are just left in the river as is. So it is common to see corpses floating around, if you are sensitive to it, it is better to be warned, for our part, we did not think about it at the time and in any case, we did not see any.

A guide explains to us during the tour, while walking among a mixture of ashes and bits of bone lying around, the quantity of wood needed to burn a body, that the people in all the surrounding buildings are sick, dying people who are waiting for their last hour before being cremated right here.

But to get back to the subject, who says expensive, says that after this quick visit to the ghat, we are obviously asked for a small snack. At the time, we are told "up to you" (whatever you want) when we ask how much to give.

On the main point of making a donation, we are ready to make the gesture. So we start to take out a few small notes except that clearly, it was not enough for our temporary host who tells us: "oh no, we need at least this much", too bad... for me a donation comes from the heart, no matter the amount and we should not under any circumstances, despite the very sad context of the place, push to do it, even less by imposing amounts deemed "sufficient".

The only cremation we will see today.

Back to Assi Ghat

This will not prevent us from enjoying the return journey, which, although inevitably having the appearance of a rewind since we pass by the same places, will give rise to different scenes, before quietly reaching the banks of the Assi Ghat and pay the agreed 500 Rupees.

For example, we will come across a group of monks, I give you a guess, Thais, in tourist mode. But for the record, it is the same group that Jitima had already come across on the plane on her flight from Bangkok to Calcutta.

Thai monks in “tourist”/pilgrim mode.