Omkareshwar~
Our home in Om~
We spent our time in Omkareshwar at a place called Maharaja’s guesthouse. Advertised as a 600 year old stone building strait out of an adventure novel, the guesthouse met and far exceeded our expectations.
As a matter of fact it is a 700 year entirely sandstone (geologists paradise) former royal courthouse to the Maharaja of Omkareshwar. The king would deliberate on residential and community feuds and then retire to his drawing room, which is now “room 1” of the guesthouse (by far the main attraction, and really, the only room worth staying in). Although the building is slowly being engulfed by the surrounding jungle its two foot thick stone walls are holding up just fine. It is a bit old and dusty, but that just made things all the more charming. Room 1 has an attatched outdoor private stone courtyard (the floor is entirely natural rippled sandstone (did I mention it was a geologists paradise? -btw my Major focus in undergraduate studies was Geology if you hadn’t surmised)) which is also a cliff that overlooks the river and many of the ghats. There is a a tree in the courtyard bursting through cracks in the sandstone that is home to a pack of monkeys you must watch out for, they seemed a bit territorial (who wouldn’t be? the place is fabulous). Finally, the courtyard is most appreciated for its solitude… though the guesthouse is in the center of town just on one side of the bridge, there has been so much growth of trees and jungle left unchecked for hundreds of years that the courtyard cannot be seen from outside apart from a small section of the bridge. This kind of solitude does come at a premium though… The current going rate for room 1 is 700 rs per night. (I realize that is only about $14, but its premium by Indian standards…)
The incredible building aside, the current owner of the guesthouse is none other than the Maharaja himself. He is directly descended from the line of kings who came to rule here 750 years ago when the courthouse and palace were built. When you visit the palace you find his picture up among the rest of Omkareshwar’s royal family. He is a kindly old man who runs a very honest guesthouse, and he can get you anything you wish for upon request (especially whisky, the man LOVES whiskey). Probably the best part of our stay here was staying up with Maharaja having a peg and listening to him tell his stories… Tiger hunting, royal drama, and ghost stories were all in order for the entertainment.
If you go to Omkareshwar (a small feat as it is a remarkably remote city), definitely stop at Maharaja’s guesthouse and try to get room one, it will make your stay. Guaranteed.
What more can I say?
We spent only three days there and we left wanting more. There was plenty of cheap accommodation and good chai tea.
If you go, see the temples… see the countryside (enjoy the grunts of the resident water buffalo). No matter what Khajuraho is sure to reveal itself to you…
Happy Travels!
Khajuraho Countryside~
The guidebooks don’t mention much outside of the World Heritage site. But we found biking around in the rural dusty roads to be much more interesting. We met some pretty adorable village boys (I wish I had brought chocolate with me, because they all seemed desperate for some), and finally heard something we had yet to hear in India… nothing. It was quiet. It was peaceful. It was lovely. Also, it was AMAZINGLY beautiful. Plus, Indian bicycles are those fat-tired, beat seat, super comfy bikes. 8D
Said to be put there to please evil spirits (therefore making them more docile, and less likely to destroy the temples and people who made them), the sculptures of Khajuraho certainly draw some attention.
Khajuraho temples~
The temples at Khajuraho were built by successive hindu empires from 900 to 1100 A.D. At around 1150 they were wiped out and the conquerors left the land due to its isolation from any major trade route. Then the temples became engulfed in jungle to the point that they were only just barely noticeable. Not until the 1800s were they rediscovered by the Queen’s military exploring for new land to develop. They were positively floored by the architecture and also scandalized by the sculpture. Today many of the temples are protected in a large campus as a World Heritage Site (which in India means you have to pay 10 to 25 times what Indians pay to see it as a foreign tourist). There are also some found in the surrounding countryside which can be seen free of charge (all easily located and easily accessible by bike. In my opinion from a distance all the temples look a little bit like alien spaceships that have landed on earth. Except that they are all made out of sandstone (India is a Geologist’s dream). The temples are the reason every tourist comes to Khajuraho.
We spent two weeks here and really found it to be a worthwhile stay.
We stayed at Kushi Paying Guesthouse. It is a clean (by Varansi standards- which are unfortunately low) and friendly place down on Assi Ghat. We decided not to stay near main Ghat since our stay would coincide with Diwali and we wanted to have a chance to get away from all the craziness (turned out to be a perfect idea). The owner’s name is Deepak and he runs the place very professionally. It has a communal kitchen and living/ dining area, which feels like a little home away from home. The kitchen was fabulous for us because one of us is a very enthusiastic cook. We ended up making several nights of pasta dinner including a really nice farewell dinner of Cauliflower Pasta for our hosts.
Food-wise Varanasi is so huge that there is a seemingly infinite number of places to eat. From all manner of street vendor to fancy shmancy Indian restaurants, the food was all good. Any of the local places serving Indian thali are reliable, cheap, filling options. If you go out to one of the places popular with the Indian middle class you will discover some of the tastiest northern curries around. And, because it is such a popular tourist destination, you can even find Italian-style wood oven pizza. mmmmm.
Finally, the main to-do activity of Varansi (and the activity you most often are asked if you want to do by those hoping to get your business) is boat rides along the ghats. Prices vary wildly depending on the style and size of the boat (bigger is more, motors are more). The paddle boats are definitely the nicer though. With a motor it smells like diesel and you hear this “CHUG-CHUG-CHUG” the whole time. With a rower its so peaceful. It feels like the way they’ve been doing it for all of Varanasi’s history. AND you feel good giving them backsheesh (a tip) for their services since they just spent the last hour paddling upstream. Also, make sure to agree on a price beforehand or they will ask for much more than the trip was worth after it is over (everyone will expect a tip at the end of your ride, give whatever you like).
Varanasi is just, a place unlike any other. It’s older than history, and just being there you can tell. Even though in town people ride motorcycles and use cell phones, Sadhus and Brahmins are performing daily rituals that are 5 thousand years old. Though most people stay only a couple days to witness the famous evening puja, we really enjoyed spending a bit more time there to really let the city sink in. And I would definitely recommend the same for others.
BHU - Benares Hindu University
This is what an Indian University looks like.
So… we went to this event because we were invited by our friend Karen. She got us fantastic seats to see it. The crush of people, the color, and the boys dressed up in fancy ladies clothing really made the event what it was for us. Because honestly the whole thing was beyond us. As much as we asked all we really found out was that this was some reenactment of a Hindu story of Krishna saving a man from a giant snake because he prayed to Krishna. It was a long wait (about 2 hours) for set up and little displays with the dressed up children. Someone was yelling over a microphone the whole time, and in the end the whole reenactment was all of ten minutes. I was happy to be there just to watch people watching this performance. Unfortunately I wish I had known better what the whole thing was about. At some point a local news camera crew was walking around the crowd interviewing people about the event and they spotted us (the lone three white people) sitting down in front. They came over and somewhat forcibly got me to do an interview asking what the event was about… Hopefully they didn’t use the film.
Even if you don’t really understand whats going on events in India are an experience to attend. And, you end up learning more than you think.
While we were in Varanasi there happened to be a major puja event for women. Ladies from all over northern India (many from UP and Bihar) come to the banks of the Ganga to pray for good luck and prosperity for themselves, and their sisters, mothers, and female cousins. To participate the women take a 36 hour fast and conclude the ceremony by standing in the water and waiting for the sun to rise on the second morning. They begin to gather at 3 a.m. and people just keep coming until 6. Then things start to get crazy as everyone fights for water space until the sun rises. We chartered a boat to pick us up at 5:30 and take us up and down all the ghats until the sun rose. It was an incredible experience.
