What to say about the holiest city in India that hasn’t been said a zillion times before? Well, it was a real and unfettered experience for me! It was a good experience and one that I will repeat soon. I never felt any spiritual stuff while I was there — God didn’t tap me on the shoulder. Maybe I was too busy ducking beggars and street merchants and side-stepping these huge black water-buffalo. I liked Varanasi because it is everything good and everything horrid all in one place. Fortunately, all the horrid stuff the Indians do to each other. So wondering around seemed very safe to me.
Along the river Ganga — when you’ve been there you too can call it the Ganga, most everyone else calls it the river Ganges. Anyway, walking along the Ganga was the most interesting part of Varanasi for me. I went back and back and walked different parts of it. I found the people and the sights and the smells enthralling. And now, when I look at my pics from those walks my heart tugs me to buy a ticket and return immediately. It’s madness. I’m sure it’s the beginnings of madness.