Someone leaning over your table at a desolate, dirty old bar in Delhi to inform you that the place you are about to travel to “takes no prisoners” is always concerning. But as two South Africans and One New Zealander discovered, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The destination in question was
Varanasi AKA the home of the great Ganges River AKA a place we should brace ourselves for, apparently.
So in the words of Journey “we took the midnight train…” from Delhi to Varanasi. Turns out the midnight train deserves the title “takes no prisoners” far more than the city does! This train orders you aboard, sleeps you at the mercy of the three or four other passengers in your cubical, and can’t be done without a small prayer.
We were in sleeper’s class. (You could pay more and be a lot more comfortable.) This involves signing a waiver to say you won’t blame the train company if you get ‘poisoned, raped, or murdered’, and a hard bed without a blanket or pillow.
The journey’s a long one and we arrived in Varanasi after more than 12 hours travelling. Looking around Varanasi’s
Varanasitrain station it seemed we had been transported back to India circa 1930. Beggars and hungry children congregated at the old, run-down station. As we ventured into the harsh light of day we were greeted by cows, dust, dirt, tuk-tuk’s, and no roads in sight.
And there we were. Varanasi. A city of many names: “the spiritual capital of India,” “the holy city,” or to quote the best one I’d heard so far, “The oldest living city on earth.” One can only imagine how many incarnations these cows had been through.
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