Monday 21 Oct 2013 New Delhi and onto Varanasi

We both slept fairly patchy, and finally decided we were up for the day at about 5am. We had a wake-up call booked for 6:45, which was duly received and followed by our wake-up tea and coffee order delivered to our room.

We went down to breakfast a little after 7 and Deb stuck to her meuseli, while I dove straight into a mix of north and south Indian cuisine. I had a sort of spicy doughnut, steamed rice cakes and a “Puffed” rice(not like rice bubbles puffed) all accompainied by a spiced tomato soupy relish. It was very good.

We checked out and were on our way to the airport by 8:30am, arriving at the airport at about 8:50. The queues to check-in weren’t as bad as I thought they may be, and after a while we were saying good-bye to Dej and  going through security, where we were both frisked.  Our flight to Varanasi was due to leave at 10:40, but due to its late arrival we eventually left at 11:20. I didn’t realise how hard some people find it to locate their seats on planes, but there you go. 🙂  Some passengers were still being seated as the plane was being pushed out from the bay. As we taxied out to the runway the smog really become evident when you could not literally see the end of the runway.  The crew did the fastest safety briefing I have ever seen , and we were on our way for the 55 min flight to the Holy City of Varanasi.

After another uneventful flight, and may they keep happening, we touched down in Varanasi around 12:15. We were met by the local A & K representive and driven to our hotel, The Nedesar Palace.

(The first 5km  from the airport was the most  amazing road  I have ever been on.  So  much life happening out on the street, so much colour, so much going on.   🙂  A photographers paradise.  It was a visual and auditory assault, one that will stay with me a long time.)

When we arrived we were greeted by a man playing a conch shell, had sacred water splashed at us and were given another forehead dot and a ceramic necklace each.  (It was all a bit overwhelmimg having a dozen people greet you and make a fuss of you).  While we were sitting having our freshly made watermelon drink we had our photo taken. We were then taken for a walk around the palace to orientate us to all the facilities. This is luxury accomodation, it has 10 guest rooms/suites and is set on 10 hectares of grounds, including a private 5 hole golf course, a Baradari  (think of a gazebo made of the same white marble used in the Taj Mahal), its own Hindu Temple and a pool designed to replicate the bathing ghats on the River Ganges in Varanasi. Apparently you can have a Royal Dining Experience in the Baradari at night, they light up the gardens, have a candle lit path covered in rose petals leading to the Baradari, you have your own private band playing music for you to dine by and Kathak dancers to give you a private performance while you dine, all for $800.00 plus taxes!  We decided we were a bit busy for that, LOL!  😛

We have a lovely room overlooking the pool.   We noticed that the photo that had been taken earlier was now in a frame in our room, as if it had been there forever!

We went down for lunch and we both had a Lamb Korma Wrap. We were blown away with the flavours in this 5 star wrap, how can something apparently so simple taste so good.

We then relaxed in our room until 4:30 when we were picked up by our guide to go and watch the sunset ceremonies on the banks the Ganges. Sunset is around 6pm so we had plenty of time, wrong!!  The roads to the area we were headed were like a parking lot, an Indian parking lot! At one point we traveled 1.4km in 40mins, our half hour ride eventually took almost 1 1/2hrs. Deb really enjoyed the car ride, she took countless photos. We walked the last 300m down to the river. Here walking involves using all 3 or 4 of your eyes, you have to look out for cars, motor cycles/scooters, bicycles, powered and unpowered Tuktuks, radom people, dogs, cows and more importantly cowpats, all the while fending off very persistent hawkers (Greg got his camera out and was taking photos while he was also doing the above, there is no way I could have done that too).

We took up a position on top of a building overlooking the performance area. We had comfortable palstic seats and a great overview of everything going on. The ceremony was a very cultural affair, if your into that sort of thing it was really interesting. Unfortunately we both missed that gene and amused ourselves by watching  what was going on around the event. India is a great place for people watching. The drive back was much simpler and we were back by 7pm.

We hadn’t been back long when a staff member came to our room and wanted to pour Deb a bath, complete with rose petals. She asked if he could have it ready by 8:15 after we had eaten, and he said yes. We had a candle lit dinner sitting outside by the pool, (it was the most amazing setting, a beautiful warm evening and candles everywhere, the food was delicious – after you eat the chef always comes out to make sure you are happy with your meal.    The staff are all very attentive, but there are one or two who are overly so, and it is very irritating – but we smile through it!!   😉 )  Afterwards we retired to our room for the night. Deb enjoyed her bath, and yes, she got a few pics of it before she jumped in!!  🙂 (you would be loving the baths Carly, hope photos will suffice!!)

We are being picked up at 5:30am tomorrow morning to go to the Ganges for a boat tour.

We were very pleased to hear that Ben and Carly’s Nanna had a good send off, it seemed fitting that we were in Varanasi for the day of her funeral.  The holiest of Indian cities.