NOVEMBER 16: AMRITSAR – DELHI – VARANASI (FLIGHT).

Breakfast (box lunch).

Departure to the airport for your flight to Varanasi via Delhi.

Transfer from the hotel to the airport at approximately 9:45 a.m.

Flight 6E 6262 / Departure from Amritsar: 12:45 p.m. – Arrival from Delhi: 1:45 p.m.

Flight 6E 2414 / Departure from Delhi: 6:25 p.m. – Arrival from Varanasi: 7:55 p.m.

“Varanasi is one of the Seven Holy Cities and the preferred place for Hindus to free themselves from the cycle of life and rebirth. Myths and hymns speak of the waters of the Ganges River as the fluid medium of divine essence. A bath in the river is believed to wash away all sins. It is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world, as old as time itself.”

This day was a bit fuzzy for me to remember, looking back on it. Today and the next day were the days when I felt the worst. Flying all day today did not help. I hope not to write so much about my health next time I travel to India, but hey, it was part of the experience!

I think the group was generally just tired. I don’t have a lot to share about today, as we were all moving on to Varanasi, the last city on our itinerary.

Upon arrival, reception and transfer to the Radisson Varanasi Hotel.

This was the last city that the whole group would be in together. After Varanasi, some of us would leave to go to Pune, and others would return home. We didn’t do anything today as it was too late. I remember having an Indian beer here today, and I felt like it helped. The beer was not bad at all. The Indian beer is called “Kingfisher.”

Dinner and overnight stay at the Radisson Varanasi Hotel.

NOVEMBER 17: VARANASI

Early morning boat ride on the Ganges with views of the ghats.

I stayed in the hotel to rest this morning. My mom told me more about how it went. She didn’t tell me too much, from what I can remember. We went back to see it at night, but I feel content with what I saw from the pictures she showed me.

I was one of the last ones to eat breakfast after everyone had returned. I ate some eggs with bread, a relatively standard homemade meal.

At the scheduled time, depart for Sarnath, the place where Buddha, after achieving enlightenment at Bodh Gaya, delivered his first sermon, or in religious terms, set in motion the Wheel of the Law (Maha-Dharmachakra Pravartan).

This place was like a big, huge park, and we walked around. Varanasi did not have as many skyscrapers as Amritsar did. Only Delhi, Amritsar, and Pune did from the cities we visited.

As we were walking towards the park, I noticed there were a few schools with their students on a field trip to this place. I may or may not have mentioned it in my writing already. Still, one significant difference between Egypt and India that I noticed is that almost everyone in India has a smartphone, whereas this is not the case in Egypt. We walked around and went inside this small, old structure that honors Buddha.

Afterwards, we sat down and meditated for a bit. I only have one picture of him, so I hope my mom and good friend Dora forgive me in advance, but he walked up to me and started speaking English to me. His English was fairly good. He asked me where I was from and what we were doing. He was a relatively friendly and good young man. I enjoyed the conversation with him, albeit it was short.

Lunch.

To close the day, we will attend the Aarti ceremony on the banks of the Ganges River.

This was quite the ceremony, to say the least. There were so many people here. Varanasi and Delhi truly did put the “India” in India. I was still quite out of it, so I didn’t even eat lunch. I wasn’t too hungry, but I was exhausted. I was, more or less, as they say.

As we crossed the streets, I remember feeling immersed in the crowds, as if I had done this before. To my left I see a bunch of old little Indian women, to my right I saw a boy in a bike next to a young man riding a motorcycle, next to a few street dogs, next to a cow, next to a rickshaw, and in between all of us, were cars, small trucks, and maybe a monkey or two. We all moved together in unison, yet none of us crashed or hit each other. It was honestly amazing to be a part of this, just existing with everything else in the street.

I was walking at the end of the line to make sure no one got lost. When we reached the waterfront, Tariq congratulated me for making sure no one from the group got lost. I must give credit to Manu, who helped me learn this in Amritsar.

Final Moments

The ceremony on the river involved a few musicians. There were a few people by the waterfront offering to paint our faces. I couldn’t remember if they charged or not, but I think a few of us refused because we didn’t want to pay.

Ah, well, there is only one more flight and one more location now that we have experienced these wonderful cities. The walk back after the ceremony had ended was somewhat calm, but the street vendors in Varanasi were relentless, much like those in Egypt. They spoke fairly good English. Who knows what look I had on my face, but one of them, after trying to talk to me for a second or two, said, “You look exhausted.” Haha, that’s because I was!

Dinner and overnight stay at the Radisson Hotel Varanasi.