Varanasi

shantai

Which do you recommend and why. I want to face gangas. Hotel Alka or Scindhia Guesthouse, want ion room bath.

jarman_ah

I recall seeing the Alka, and my memory is that its location is just about as good as the one we chose, Scindhia. There are about a hundred other hotels all facing the Ganges, all with wonderful views (from some rooms, anyway).

I can certainly recommend the Scindhia -- not over-expensive (we paid 450 rupees for a double with private bath)and a balcony looking straight at the river), and now that we have our photographs back we realise what a great view this is, as you are looking straight at Scindhia Ghat, which is a fascinating structure in its own right -- with its spires in the foreground and the Ganges behind them, these are some great shots.

It seems that Scindhia Ghat was planned as the biggest, most elaborate of all the ghats, but it collapsed into the river even before it was finished. The spires are still there, in the water, sticking up at crazy angles, while life just goes on around them. It's a bit like looking at Atlantis.

If you choose Scindhia Guest House, remember that you can't get an autorickshaw right to the door.... like so many other hotels that are right at the water's edge, you have to walk the last couple of hundred metres. You'll get lost for sure without help.... so insist that your driver gets off and leads you that last section on foot. This, apparently, is quite a straightforward request and won't cause him any problem. When it's time to leave again, one of the workers at Scindhia will walk back with you as far as the autorickshaw assembling point.

LuAnnandJawahar

You can also call Scindhia when you arrive and they will send someone to meet you. The Lonely Planet used to say that travelers had reported that the management at Scindhia was not friendly, 'hope they've changed that as it was never true. In fact, we had a little trouble with the police once, and they were most gracious in helping us. Apparently it was beyond the frame of reference of the police that an Indian male and non-Indian female could be standing on a ghat after dark having a discussion unless the Indian male was pestering the non-Indian female. They would not believe us otherwise. But we did appreciate their diligence on some level as they were presumably looking out for the best interest of the "visitor".
Schindhia is very close to the main buring ghat. They have a variety of rooms at various tariffs, many overlooking the river, and a nice little restaurant.

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shantai

Thanks for the info guys. The Scindhia sounds very good. I have received many nice responses from them. I am single 55 yr old female traveling alone. I guess it'll be ok in Varanasi for me?!!!

jarman_ah

Shantai, I'm glad you've chosen the Scindhia, and I will look forward to your comments once you've arrived there (they have an internet room, and even though it's about 10 rupees more expensive per hour than the ones down near the main ghat, it's a pleasant private room, and (unlike those other places) the keyboard is CLEAN!)

I am a little saddened that Lonely Planet dismissed the management at Scindhia as "unfriendly". But maybe that will work in your favour, as there will be more likely to be a vacancy there if LP is turning people off with that negative comment. I am sure the comment was written in good faith, but I think the problem with books like LP is that, while they may get 100 letters about Establishment A (so that they can make an informed judgement), they may only get one or two letters about Establishment B, which means that their judgement in this case may be very skewed. I think that must be the case here, as Kush, the manager, was one of the friendliest and most helpful hoteliers we encountered in five weeks in India. I recall we had a similar experience some years ago in Amsterdam..... the Frommers book panned the Groot Hotel, saying that the management was "grumpy", so, naturally, when we arrived it was about the only place in town that still had a vacancy. We were trapped -- or so we thought. But then, on arriving, we found a "comments" book in the lobby with HUNDREDS of positive comments about the management's friendliness, most of the comments specifically saying that the Frommer's report was way out of line. And those comments were right.

Anyway, I digress. I do remember one thing Kush told me about the last several years' LP entry: they spelled the name of the hotel wrong (I think they misplaced or omitted the "h": the correct spelling is SCINDHIA), and also they got the telephone number wrong! So it looks like LP is determined that none of their readers shall stay in Scindhia! (Maybe they have corrected those for this year's edition.... Kush told me he's been writing to them for years asking for this correction, but nothing ever happens).

Banarasi at heart

Nothing about the hotels as I never stayed in hotels while in Varanasi. Just wanted to wish you all the best in your stay at the most paradoxical and old city of extremes in India. At risk of repeating what you know, here are some interesting facts.

It is the oldest city with the largest modern University in India.
It is an old center of music (Ravi Shankar, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Zakir Hussain, Bismillah Khan among others) and of wrestling.
It is literally a museum of many different kinds of people.
It is a city holiest to Hindus and the old Vishwanath temple is an area with the highest muslim population in the city.
It is the city where Buddha deliverd his first lecture. It is a very popular city for Tibetans and other buddhist scholars.
It is the city of light but people come here to die.
You would probably see people and wonder when they work or how they manage with so little work. For Example you may see shops that have 2-3 customers talking the whole day and wonder what his sales are.
I have had some of the tastiest milk here. You will see shops that just continously boil milk and sell milk and milk based sweets.
It is held sacred by people but has almost all the vices that one can think of.

I wish I could visit Varanasi right now!

Sorry for putting this when you wanted other specific information. I just could not resist!

machadinha

Speaking of which and it had to come up sooner or later if it hasn't already* (and it obviously isn't considered a vice or they wouldn't be there), Varanasi is one of the few places where I ran into a government bhang shop, I hear Puri among others has the same. There used to be plenty of cops hanging around in the vicinity too though. I take it pilgrims are free to buy there, but how easy would this be on a Western tourist, and if you don't get into trouble on the spot what are the odds of the cops following you around and shaking some money out of you a little down the road?

Just ahem curious you know.

*a search on IM on bhang shop gives a few hits but no real answer

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Banarasi at heart

"I take it pilgrims are free to buy there, but how easy would this be on a Western tourist, and if you don't get into trouble on the spot what are the odds of the cops following you around and shaking some money out of you a little down the road?"

I really do not know. The first time was when I asked for a "nimbu sherbet" (lemonade), the seller asked if I wanted bhang in it. My father was with me and luckily he did not notice otherwise he would have had doubts if I would really study there. Anyway, it looks easy but I could speak hindi well (though I was new to Varanasi and to Uttar Pradesh in general) and so no problem if I wanted it. Anyway, I do recall that bhang was easy to get in the temples in Holi and Diwali festivals. Other than that I do not know if it is easy to get. I am sure it is easy to get if you talk to some local.

A word of caution. Bhang is a different kind of intoxicant. I have seen guys sleep for 8 hrs straight just out of the room (or in the toilet ); laugh or talk uncontrollably for hours after having lots of bhang. So if you do get it, better not to have too much.

Cheers

machadinha

Thanx Banarasi, I was thinking less off the bhang or the green goodies than the black stuff sold though.

timmy

I couldn't leave my hotel in Varanasi without some guy trying to sell me hash in the laneways... or other stuff.

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SHIMLA

[quote=Banarasi at heart] here are some interesting facts.

It is the oldest city with the largest modern University in India.
It is an old center of music (Ravi Shankar, Hari Prasad Chaurasia, Zakir Hussain, Bismillah Khan among others) and of wrestling.
It is literally a museum of many different kinds of people.
It is a city holiest to Hindus and the old Vishwanath temple is an area with the highest muslim population in the city.
It is the city where Buddha deliverd his first lecture. It is a very popular city for Tibetans and other buddhist scholars.
It is the city of light but people come here to die.
You would probably see people and wonder when they work or how they manage with so little work. For Example you may see shops that have 2-3 customers talking the whole day and wonder what his sales are.
I have had some of the tastiest milk here. You will see shops that just continously boil milk and sell milk and milk based sweets.
It is held sacred by people but has almost all the vices that one can think of./QUOTE]

What about the famous "Banarasi paan", which, according to Amitabh Bachchan in "Don", "releases the locked up intelligence from one's mind" ???

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machadinha

Of course. It wasn't what I was asking though. Never mind.

Banarasi at heart

Of Course Shimla. Wonder how I forgot......

monkgonemad

i really liked varanasi - make sure to give yourself enough time to sort out the old gangs and watch many a sunset along the river. to me ... it is quintessentially (sp?) india.

get a room close to the water, back by the train station may be cleaner and cheaper (maybe not) but its not the same and youll be going down to the ghats anyway...

man i love that place! :-)

dont worry about a room, dont overthink. try one and if you dont like move on.

nedhopkins

My son and I were in Varanasi for three full days last December; we roamed around the ghats, the few broad roads, and many of the narrow lanes; we were never approached by anyone trying to sell us drugs.

Varanasi is a fascinating city -- one of the handful of towns that's a "must see" for anyone interested in Hindu culture and/or Indian history. (And, with Sarnath virtually in its suburbs, it's also a "must see" for Buddhists or people interested in Buddhism.)