Tigers and the Ganges (4 of 4): Life and Death

The journey on from remote Banhavgarh was a long one, a 3 hour drive followed by a mind numbing 12 hours on a train. Would the destination be worth it?

Built alongside the sacred river Ganges, the ancient Hindu holy city of Varanasi is an astonishing place. Nothing can prepare you for what you experience there. After the peace and quiet of the countryside it was quite a shock to the system.

Mark Twain described Varanasi as follows:

'Older than history, older than tradition, older even than legend, and looks twice as old as all of them put together'

Varanasi is also known as Benares and, to devout Hindus, Kashi - The City of Light. Before exploring its streets and alleys we took a short excursion to the nearby Buddhist temples and ruins at Sarnath.

It was in 6th century BC Sarnath that the Buddha gave his first sermon. At one stage there were around 3000 monks in it's monasteries, however Muslim invasions and the rise of Hinduism eventually led to Sarnath becoming abandoned.

In the mid 19th century it began to grow again and today it is an important international centre for Buddhism. After visiting the archeological museum, which has hundreds of ancient stone Buddhas lining its galleries, I was a bit Buddha-ed out. Of more interest to me was Sarnath's Digambar Jain Temple. The temple walls are beautifully adorned with paintings depicting the naked life of Lord Mahavira, the founder of Jainism. The Digambar sect of Jain monks apparently are not into the clothing and having body hair thing. Sadly there were none present at the time of my visit, maybe they were tired of featuring in tourist videos?

Returning to the noise and mass of people in Varanasi it was time to learn about the city's importance to the Hindu world. It's at this holy point on the Ganges that people come to get close to their gods and goddesses. Anyone who dies here will, it is believed, obtain instant enlightenment. Thus the elderly come to Varanasi to live out their final days (I guess it's a bit like the Indian equivalent of Worthing).

Old palaces and temples line the long waterfront, with a series of stone stepped Ghats leading down to the river. Taking an early morning boat ride past the Ghats was an amazing experience. I got to see life and death side by side in close proximity. Hundreds of people were bathing in the water, the 'elixir of life', to absolve their sins. Just nearby though were Ghats where cremations were taking place. Salvation in the Ganges for the dead.

A walk along the Ghats is also something to remember. The smell from the river and sewage takes a little getting used to. So does the constant pestering by touts offering you postcards, boat rides, head massages (performed with Three Stooges-like slapping) and close up views of burning bodies. It's what they think tourists want and I guess they are right. Hindus come to the Ganges at Varanasi to gain purity or die. Tourists like myself are attracted to the strangeness of it all; The colourful puja ceremonies and temples contrasting with the death, shit and decay.


If you've not been to Varanasi before, don't be put off by some of the stuff I've written about above. It's an amazing, unforgettable, vibrant place that is well worth a visit. I managed to get some video footage showing an entrancing puja being performed and a taste of life along the waterfront.

Varanasi and the Ganges
So that was it, an overnight train back to Delhi, a final day in the capital and then it was time to fly home. Get a Lonely Planet or Rough Guide and go. I had two fantastic weeks. Nice people, great sights, tasty food, Tigers and the Ganges.

Tigers and the Ganges (3 of 4): Tiger Safari

After leaving all that saucy stuff in Khajuraho we made the long drive to Bandhavgarh National Park and settled in for the night at the 'Mogli Lodge'. I say settled but it took a while to get used to the Scarab Beetles and assorted bugs that wanted to share my room. Once I'd banished them everything was fine, besides I had a friendly Gecko on my wall to gobble up any interlopers.

The next day we awoke at dawn and headed out by Jeep into the park. The world's Tiger population is decreasing at an alarming rate. Some experts believe that extinction may occur in the near future. With this in mind, if you want to see a Tiger in the wild then Bandhavgarh is probably the best place to do it. It's thought that there may be around 50 or so of the big cats in the park, feeding on a plentiful supply of Deer.

Fingers crossed and half expecting not to get a sighting, we enjoyed the early morning sunlight shining through the forests and on the grassy plains. Deer and Monkeys were watching us which meant that there were no Tigers or elusive Leopards nearby.

Suddenly our driver got a call and we headed off in a different direction. Soon we were in a line of parked Jeeps, peering at 3 Tigers, one on one side of the trail and two on the other. It was a real 'wow' moment but better was yet to come. After a quick packed breakfast, we drove out to look again. This time we had the opportunity to climb onto the back of an Elephant, enabling us to get through the trees and up close. It was an amazing experience as the Elephant, controlled by his Mahout (handler), took us through the forest, pulling down branches that were in the way with his trunk. Soon, there it was, a magnificent looking Tiger, just down below us in a dry stream bed. Our sure-footed Elephant moved closer down the slope until we got a perfect view.

The Tiger seemed a little pissed off at being disturbed so I was quite happy when we started to head back to the Jeep. A magical few minutes that I luckily captured on film.

Bandhavgarh National Park Tiger Safari 'Elephant-Cam'
Thinking back now, great as the day was, it did seem a bit like a circus with lots of tourists dashing around by Jeep and potentially driving the Tigers away. Still, money is brought into the park for conservation purposes and I'm sure that the people that run it know what they are doing. The bottom line is that without tourists there would be no park and without the park there would be no Tigers.

On the day following our 'safari' we visited a nearby tribal village and the people welcomed us into their homes. After a chapatti making demonstration and a sample (with mega hot chili Lime pickle!) we were taken to a local school. The kids there were charming and the younger ones seemed quite thrilled when we gave them a few exercise books and pens. This only cost a few Rupees and I felt that we'd all have been happy to donate more.

After two days at Bandhavgarh it was time to leave and take a train to the holiest of Hindu cities, ancient Varanasi.

Tigers and the Ganges (2 of 4): Palaces and Temples

The small village of Orchha, sitting along the Betwa river, was a welcome change from the big cities. The atmospheric village is dominated by several old palaces and Hindu temples the like of which I've never seen before.

The main palace was built in the 16th Century during the Bundela Dynasty. The King, Rudra Pratep, apparently tried to save a Cow from a Tiger and was killed.

[Mental note: Let the Tiger eat the Cow]

Moving on from Orchha we drove through farmland and forests and arrived at the town of Khajuraho.

Khajuraho also has temples, lots of them. Dating back to the 10th Century they lay hidden and forgotten in the forest until the British discovered them in the 1830's. 22 out of around 80 temples have survived the ravages of time.

Their design and artistic detail is simply amazing. Boy did the Brits get a shock when they found them! These temples are famed for the outrageous erotic sculptures that cover their outside walls. Here's an example:


On seeing this my first thought was 'that is a small horse'. Our local guide was very keen to tell us all about the graphic scenes depicted. For the last scene of a series of threesome sculptures he said 'see his balls, they are smaller now'. Made me blush.

Time to see some wildlife...

Tigers and the Ganges (1 of 4): Delhi to Agra

The second thing that struck me after arriving in Delhi was that the light was softer; whether this was due to dust or pollution in the air I don't know but it was nice. The first thing that struck me was the traffic madness on the way to my hotel from the airport. Buses, cars, auto-rickshaws, motorbikes, cycles and cows, all weaving in an out around each other at speed. After reaching the hotel I went for a walk, with a few of my fellow travellers, around the local area to get orientated. It was a chaotic mass of people, horn-honking speeding traffic and men peeing in the street. Welcome to India. Even though I was expecting this it was still quite a shock to the system. This apparent chaos however turned out to be nothing compared with what I'd experience by the end of my two week stay in the country. Not that my trip was all craziness, there were a lot of quiet serene moments amongst the noise.


Old Delhi market wasn't one of these! It was a maze of alleyways and tiny shops. I've never seen so many people packed together. Street kids and beggers (some disturbingly disabled or deformed) are there to meet you. On the whole everyone seemed genuinely friendly.

One disheveled old man wanted to say hello and shake my hand. I turned and looked at him, there was blood in his mouth and shit on his outstretched hand. I recoiled in horror and walked away. I felt awful about this. An experience I won't forget.

After a night in Delhi, we got a nice early morning air conditioned train to Agra. Indian train stations really have to be seen to be believed. Having read some of the warnings for travellers in the Lonely Planet and Rough Guides our group was perhaps overly paranoid, huddled together, eyes and hands on our bags and money. Better safe than sorry though.

There are two main reasons people go to Agra: The large impressive Red Fort and the majestic Taj Mahal.

The Taj Mahal is quite rightly one of the top seven tourist wonders of the world. It is very impressive. A beautiful mausoleum created out of the love of a man for his dead wife.

When Princess Diana visited, she and her entourage had the Taj to themselves, we however had to share it with thousands of others. Despite the crowds it's a must see.

After Agra it was time time get on a train again, heading away from the bustling cities and into the Indian countryside...

Tiger, Tiger

I just got back from two week trip to Northern India yesterday. It was a fantastic experience. As soon as I've caught up on a little sleep I'll write a post about it. It will feature, amongst other things, strange tales of Religious practices, Massage, Orgiastic Sex and Death. There will also be Tigers...

Instant Karma

Karma is a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do.

This morning I went along to India House, Aldwych, to obtain a tourist Visa for a trip that I'm making to the subcontinent next month. Is it just by coincidence then that I've just stuck a frozen Tesco's Chicken Tikka Masala in the oven?