The two daily trains to Varanasi were all full for the next several days, and the Agra train station tourist official told me I could get a comfy, A/C tourist coach at the bus station 45 minutes outside of town. Once I got there, I teamed up with a chubby Korean tourist guy, Woong, and we boarded the most broken, dirty, uncomfortable bus yet, for the 16 hour journey-from-hell through mud, potholes, and dusty country roads to Varanasi. Woong probably saved me from a boatload of staring and male harrasment. I nicknamed him "The Korean Cowboy" and we both wore our bandanas to keep the dust out of our noses.
We rode through the poorest sections of India I have seen so far, and arrived in Varanasi at 8am. It's the most congested and filthy place so far, with monkeys, cows, goats and stray dogs walking and shitting in all the narrow alleys, inbetween piles of garbage, open sewage drains, and a high density of mosquitos, gnats, ants and *flies*. I've been a real trooper in India so far. Most cities have open sewers. Those in Jodhpur ran pink with Holi color... but I draw the line at bugs! Previous travelers have raved about how beautiful and spectacular Varanasi is. "The whole city is like one lovely temple... just watch out for the shit everywhere".
I found a place to eat breakfast, and contemplated leaving immediately, but then I met a very nice tourist called Lindsey, an ER nurse from Vancouver, Canada and her nurse friend Kim. They showed me the place where they're staying where I got a room (and a shower) quickly. They duste me off, and encouraged me to stay and give Varanasi a chance. We met up later, walked around and got some lunch. The Ghats and river front, Varanasi's claim to fame, where Hindus wash themselves in the Ganges river, and burn and dispose of dead family members, is also a place where water buffalo swim. The waterfront is filthy, a hodge podge of mis-matched steps, run-down temples, modern abandoned buildings where monkeys live and fight, and ugly hotels under construction. A restaurant recommended in the Lonely Planet was in the middle of tearing down its concrete roof, and was still open and serving food, with chunks of rubble literally falling on the tables. I stopped into an internet cafe, which was clean and air conditioned, but a little girl was able to peek into the toilet stall through a ventilation duct, and ask me in English "finished?", like she does that everytime someone goes to the toilet. I called her a naughty girl.
I will get to "appreciate" Varanasi for 1 more day, like it or not, waiting for the midnight train to Gorakhpur, the recommended place and time for taking a train (I got the last available sleeper ticket thanks to the "ladies quota"), and then a shared jeep or bicycle rickshaw, across the border and into Nepal. I decided to skip Darjeeling for now. Maybe I'll go there after Bhutan. I have 1 more entry on my Indian visa. I like India, but I'm also glad to be done with it! Nepali men are supposed to be more respestful, too. The Nepali men who are working in India have been very nice so far.
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