I was walking in the backpacker street of Kolkata, my heavy backpack starting to weigh down on me. The last hour, I had been looking at rooms in various states of dilapidation, trying to decide which one would revolt me the least for a one night stay. All that time, I had been harassed by various Indians offering their help notwithstanding my firm indication that no such help was desired. Arriving in Kolkata late in the afternoon had not been a good thing for finding decent accommodation. I had planned to arrive early morning but my train had been delayed by eight hours. Despite the rather horrendous accommodation I had finally chosen, I slept quite well, and my Sunday stroll through the rather calm streets of Kolkata was very pleasant - the many colonial buildings and wide lanes give the city a pleasant grandeur.
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“Hello Sir, welcome to Varanasi!” The moment you arrive in the train station of Varanasi, it is immediately clear you have arrived in a tourist city. The hawkers are waiting for you on the platform, and even speak reasonable English. But this is nothing compared to what awaits you when you walk along the city’s famed ghats (stairs leading to the Ganges river): almost without exception, the locals that start chatting with you, do so for one purpose and one purpose only: getting some bills out of your wallet. That being said, the ghats are beautiful, the old town is a great place to get lost, the lassi’s are mouthwatering (my favourite shop: Green Lassi in Assi Ghat) and the street food phenomenal (wandering the food stalls of the Lanka district, right in front of Banaras Hindu University, is my guilty pleasure).
One tip: given the proximity of fresh water (the Ganges), do not be surprised if you have quite a bit of bloodthirsty mosquitos in your bedroom - your (impregnated) mosquito net will prove its use here! Allahabad is the venue of the Kumb Mela, a huge gathering of Hindus every 12 years, at the confluence of three of Hinduisms sacred rivers. It also boasts some impressive tombs. Western tourist accommodation is rare and bare bones, but definitely a step up from what I found in Faizabad and Lucknow. I was meanwhile getting used to the people being supernice (one fruit vendor kept buying me chai and feeding me - delicious - guavas). A good stop on my way to Varanasi!
“Fully book, sir”, or a head shaking no, was the reply in tens and tens of hotels, when I enquired about a room. I had arrived at 4pm, but meanwhile it was 6am and dark, and still I had not managed to find a suitable cheap guesthouse. After I ran from one cheap guesthouse, in which I had found bedbugs after a very brief inspection of the room, I settled for a hotel which offered the type of very basic accommodation I had become accustomed to, but for double the normal price. I was growing somewhat disappointed in my India trip. Luckily, the next day, Lucknow showed its best side: phenomenal old buildings, great food, hospitable (free Biryani lunch!) and photogenic people.
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