Over a three-day weekend last month (April 2017), my Mom and I decided to go to Banaras. This was a long over-due trip and it had been on my mind since the past couple of years, but just didn’t materialize – at times, we felt it would be too hot to travel, and on some other occasions, we didn’t get confirmed train tickets!

While both these conditions were true even last month, we just decided to take the plunge. Yes, it was hot! Yes, train tickets were wait-listed, so we booked flights. We went Friday morning and came back Sunday night, so this was a 3-day 2-night trip!

To begin with, let me start with the high points:

• Our hotel – We stayed at the Brijrama Palace and I believe that was THE best choice I could have made for this trip. Why? Well, this was a 5-star heritage property, right on the Ghats – just nothing could beat its location. And I think we were the only Indians at the hotel (most guests were foreigners…who had done their research pretty well!). Yes, it was expensive, but in the accommodation cost were included – breakfast buffet, evening high-tea, another meal in the day (either lunch or dinner), complimentary nuts and cookies in the room, and boat view of the evening Ganga Aarti. Overall, the service was excellent, simple and pleasant staff at the reception and the restaurant. One would wake up to a musician playing bhajans on his flute and a yoga trainer taking classes on the terrace! Also, it happened to be the hotel’s 1^st anniversary when we were there, so they sent a surprise cake to every room, what a sweet gesture! And finally, a copy of the Gita at the time of check-out! Icing on the cake!

Spot Brijrama – The yellow lights & Asia’s first manual lift!

Hello Brijrama

Sitting pretty at the hotel reception area

Lovely coridoors

Enjoy the flute!

Hotel terrraces

Surprise!

• The Ghats – I had heard so much about the Ghats and seen them in movies! And on witnessing them in reality now, I HAVE to say they’re just plain gorgeous! We got lucky to have taken boat rides in the Ganges early in the morning (at sun-rise), during the day, evening (at sun-set), as well as at night…each time of the day presents a different view…all beautiful and not to be missed! Obviously, some of the ghats just stand out – Dashashwamedh where the evening aarti happens (it’s most lively), Assi (where the morning aarti happens), Manikarnika (the burning ghats)…just so hard to describe the awesomeness of the ghats in words here!
  

  

  

  

  
• Boat rides on the Ghats – These are just mesmerizing and we left no occasions to do these. Well, our hotel anyway was inaccessible by road, so to go anywhere one would have to take a boat :-). For example, from the airport to Bhaisasur Ghat, we took an Ola cab, and then a boat from the hotel met us there to take us to the hotel and similarly on our way back to the airport. And then when you go for the morning and evening aarti, the boat typically first takes you for a ride before reaching the aarti destination
  

  
• The Evening Ganga Aarti – I just loved the evening Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat; caught it both evenings that we were there. One day, witnessed it from our boat, it was just gorgeous, there were hundreds of boats like ours, what a feeling! Next day, went on foot, and grabbed a nice seating spot, very close to the pandayas performing the aarti – great spot to enjoy the aarti, take pictures and make videos!

• City Tour – Take out some time to go visit the main city, Sarnath has some pretty Buddha statues, take a drive in the BHU campus and visit the Kashi Vishwanath Temple, and ofcourse all the other temples in the city (Sankat Mochan, Durga Mandir, etc.)
  

  

  

  

  

  
• Shopping & Food – If in Banaras, how can one not buy a Banarasi sari! For this, I suggest relying on local advice. Our tour driver took us to a factory (that supplies to retail stores). The variety was super and the rates reasonable (or so we were made to believe!). In terms of food, I started with the most famous banarasi paan, from Deepak. I can say with certainty, it was the best paan I had ever had! While I did go to the Kachori wali gali, unfortunately I couldn’t lay my hands on the yummy kachoris. This is because I reached around 12:30pm, and they apparently finish by noon (atleast on a Sunday, having started at 7am!). However, I did manage to catch lassi from the closeby Blue Lassi Shop. And I am someone who doesn’t normally have lassi, but this one is a must do! It’s a tiny shop but has a full-fledged menu, of 80+ varieties and visited mostly by foreigners! I tried a mango lassi and was it good, oh boy! Also, try some meetha from the Shri Rajbanhu Sweets, apparently the oldest mithai shop in the city. The next must-do is the tamatar ki chaat at either Deena ki Chaat or Kashi Chaat Bhandar, do catch it!
  

  

  

  

  

  

  Now turning to the low points of the trip:

  • Limited flight options, so timings don’t exactly suit you, but you have to manage!
  • Hot weather…as far as possible, plan a trip between November and February!
  • A dip in the Ganga…hard to do as the water is not the cleanest unfortunately and while there are changing rooms at some ghats, the provision for women is just not appropriate!
  • The Urban Haat was quite a let-down. We spotted this while on our way from the airport to the hotel. Looked like a fun shopping site from the outside, much like Delhi’s Dilli Haat, however, I must say it was super disappointing, with barely anything there!
  • While the Kashi Vishanath temple is a must-do, and we went at night, post sunset, luckily didn’t get too much rush and were done in about an hour. However, the experience inside isn’t the greatest as the cops / guards just push you around and rush you through it. So essentially, while you check the box by going there, you unfortunately don’t enjoy the darshan. Also, phones, cameras, and handbags are not allowed inside, so one needs to deposit them outside and the gaalis there are so confusing (and there are multiple entry and exit points for the temple), that it was quite a project for us to get back to the store where we had deposited our stuff!Despite the low points of the trip, I will be very excited to visit Varanasi again at some point!! I hope you enjoyed reading about my experience. Do not hesitate to reach out in case you have any questions and/or need any help planning your trip.

    Signing off….Har har mahadev…har har gange!!