Not the biennale

Our visit to Varanasi left us tired and we relaxed back into the warmth of the south taking the days slowly. 

Charlie spent his time photographing local residents and tradespeople in Pattalam…a compact community behind our homestay where he’s been going for breakfast every morning. 

There are two veg shops, a bakery, a health food shop, a tailors, and a general store. Everyone was happy to have their portrait taken! He asked the librarian in the little library if he could put the portraits up in the reading room and got a nod of approval…   

The next morning, on his way round the corner for breakfast, he discovered that everything had been torn down. Every photograph had gone. No explanation. Had children pulled them off the walls? Had someone been offended? There didn’t seem to be anything he could do.

The next morning by chance the secretary of the reading room was there and he explained the problem…he needed written permission. Indian bureaucracy at its finest!

Charlie asked for a piece of paper, wrote a letter on the spot, and was told to come back in half an hour! Somewhere in that time a small committee had been assembled. Approval was granted! Smiles all round! The exhibition could go ahead - though of course everything had to be reprinted!

In the end, Charlie had four solo shows during our time in Kochi…at Masters Art Café

Red Youngs Social Club, the Pattalam reading room, and finally an upmarket clothes shop One Zero Eight @Save the Loom. 

Our last few evenings were often spent on the roof terrace with Brian and Kaz. From the moment I met Brian…a photographer from Melbourne…I felt as though I’d met Charlie’s doppelgänger. Kaz, his travelling companion, and I had an uncanny amount in common too. 

It was one of those rare travel encounters where familiarity arrives instantly, and leaving feels slightly unfinished.

Sarnath

A Buddhist friend in Portugal had recommended we go to Sarnath for the day to escape the mayhem of Varanasi.

It’s a peaceful place where the Buddha gave his first teachings and is one of the most sacred places in Buddhism.

We walked to the spot where the taxis and rickshaws start and took a chance on a rickshaw. He asked us on the way if we had a guide and he’d be our guide for an extra 500 rupees. It was well worth it as the temples were quite spread out and we would never have known where everything was! 

First a small temple with a bodhi tree, then a park with the ruined monastery and the stupa on the spot where the Buddha gave the first talks.

It felt very special to be in the same place as the Buddha had been. 

There were lots of Tibetan monks and Charlie spent ages chatting to them …some were from Tikse a temple he had actually visited in Ladakh!

Then we went on to a Thai temple and more peaceful gardens.

The rickshaw driver asked where we wanted to go for lunch and we said a Tibetan place which we’d spotted. It was perfect…he asked us for 100 rupees for his lunch and went off to find a North Indian meal! 

I had tukpa and Charlie had momo.

Then a hair raising ride back to Varanasi … very fast…I think I coped pretty well but was certainly getting to the edge of my comfort zone as he was weaving in and out of the traffic at breakneck speed!

The Buddha at Sarnath

Varanasi

Charlie has wanted to come here for more than 25 years. Maybe ever since his first visit to the Himalayas in 1996.

I have always been unsure…I don’t like being in crowds and if I’m honest I don’t like the hustle and bustle of India in the same way as he does! 

That’s why I love Kerala and Fort Cochin…I have no desire even to cross over the water to Ernakulam unless there’s a really good reason!  

But last summer I got stuck on Euston station for three hours in a big crowd and I found a corner to sit down and I survived! 

So I wondered why I was afraid of flying up to visit Varanasi and a day later I booked our flights!

Back in 2013 we met an English lady at our homestay in Fort Kochi who lived in Dharamsala and she recommended that if we ever went to Varanasi we should stay at The Vishnu Rest House! 

Hard to find but right on the waterfront of the river Ganges! 

It was certainly hard to find! Our taxi from the airport just stopped in the middle of a busy street and said I’m not allowed to go any further! After much persuasion he rang the guesthouse to ask someone to come and retrieve us and carry our bags! 

As I trailed behind the boy with all our bags on his head and Charlie trying to see which corners he had turned down it reminded me of the back streets of Venice or maybe Fez! 

The final approach to the guesthouse  is more like walking through a farmyard! Past dozy cows in the lane eating scraps while we dodged cow pats! 

We absolutely loved it here. Misty views over the Ganges with a subtle but constantly changing light. Vishnu Guest House has been running since 1977 when the current owner’s grandfather built a small temple 🛕for Vishnu in this city of Shiva.

Over a week we explored the narrow lanes each day from one end to the other by foot 👣.

Even though many homes are practically falling down, the facades are beautifully painted.

Some areas are so busy and the hassles and scams are overwhelming. Charlie shook hands with someone and ended up with a full body massage!

The burning ghats just seem like a natural part of life and death. 

Nothing like the horror stories I’d heard. Death is celebrated here. 

One day we took a boat trip to get a different perspective!

Every morning the vegetable sellers trundled their carts through the lanes ladened with fresh green peas, radishes and bunches of baby spinach with fennel!

 I loved trying to cook in our room with just a kettle! A bit like camping! ‘Maggi’ noodles and crispy marsala coated peanuts! 

Other highlights…saffron and pistachio lassi at the famous Blue Lassi cafe…I arrived in a wheelchair instead of a rickshaw after we had walked round and round for two hours trying to find the entrance to the Golden Shiva temple only to be told we had to go and get tourist tickets with our passports which were back at the guesthouse!

And almost by chance meeting our friends Kevin and Lindsey from Loulé who were walking past Pandey Ghat and Vishnu Guest House just after we arrived back from Sarnath!

Varanasi is a place like nowhere else. 

One of the oldest and most spiritual cities in the world.

Waking up to sunrise over the Ganges and watching the everyday flow of life and death was overwhelming and moving.

At dusk, kites soared into the sky.

The crowds queueing in the lanes to enter the temples, the constant noise, the hassles and the scams drained and exhausted me. 

They say Varanasi lets you lose your way so that you can find yourself. 

I’m glad we came! 

Om Namah Shivaya

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