Boat Ride: Assi Ghat -> Raj Ghat

DB1st

We'll be in Varanasi the first week of October. Lonely Planet mentioned boat trips with points of getting on and off being Dasaswamedh and Harishchandra and Assi Ghats.

We will be staying at Hotel Ganges View near Assi Ghat. Here are our questions:

1. Are there boats from Assi to Raj Ghat (so we can then stroll back to Assi)?
2. Should we hire a boat just for the 2 of us or should we join some group for safety reasons? What is the reasonable cost?
3. Should we ask the hotel to arrange the boat ride for us? And how far do we need to tell them in advance? And what is the expected cost if we book via hotel?
4. What is the best time in the morning to start the boat trip the first week of October?

We welcome comments and suggestions too!

Thank you!

Darmabum

You can have a boat take you from anywhere to anywhere . . . had one boat-wallah want to take me to Calcutta from Varanasi If you've got the rupees, anything, everything is possible. No "Regularly scheduled" boats though, to my knowledge.

There is no reason, IMHO, to worry about safety on the boats. I've taken dozens and dozens of boat rides during my over-one-year in Varanasi and never had problems.

Cost . . . ah, cost is another thing . . . as with anything, it's what the market will bear, and what you are willing to pay. No meters on these boats

During my last stay, 2006, I could get about two hours for @ Rs. 50, but that took some work. I'm not much of a haggler myself, but when I've gotten the ride for 50, I stick with it.

I find it easier to arrange the boat the day/night before, saves haggling time in the morning. Going through a hotel will cost you much more, if they'd even arrange it, but how much I don't know.

Will depend much on time, too. How long you plan to be in the boat. Asi to Raj Ghat is a looooooong way, and upstream (the hard way).

Whatever I've paid over the years, I've never felt cheated . . . the ride is worth it.

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machadinha

I wonder if Darma here isn't thinking of the same and only Raj Ghat which I know as anything like being famous, namely the one in Delhi (and where Mahatma Gandhi was famously cremated, among other things).

One would probably need to look into dams and shallows and other obstacles along the way, along many another thing, and if it's possible at all.

However, the poster planning to stroll back to Assi Ghat (and unless they got their geography and distances hopelessly and optimistically mistaken) would suggest there is a Raj Ghat in Varanasi as well (and there being one would seem far from impossible, it just means the ghat of kings).

Can't tell you about it; maybe Darma or someone does in fact know, and it would be a long way even in or around Varanasi itself?

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machadinha

nb On that note, a Google search on +"Raj Ghat" +Varanasi gives 15,000 hits. I suppose there is one there or in its surroundings, yes.

Could well still be a considerable boat ride though, I really know nothing about it.

DB1st

Thanks to all who responded and provided info and tips.

I got "Raj Ghat" from Varanasi section of Lonely Plant. It is just southwest of the railway line. On the map, the distance between it and Assi Ghat is about 5 km.

It is good to know the direction of the flow and this will help our planning.

Are boats motorized?

Is boat-wallah the driver of the boat?

Thanks again.

machadinha

When I was there, it would mostly be row-boats (so not exactly fast). Early 1990's mind, and for standard rides up and down the main ghats. From other and more recent such settings I've seen, there may well be motor boats as well, and/or multi-passenger ones, or whatever may serve the local market and what you're willing to pay for really (and down to regular, and very affordable, ferry deals; don't remember any of such in Varanasi though).

A "wallah" is someone who serves a specific function or hails from a specific place yes: Hence, taxi-wallah, Mumbai-wallah, etc.

hfot2

Check the direction-of-flow carefully.

Any rational soul looking at the map would assume the Ganges flows from north to south. But in the mystical world of Varanasi, I think you'll find that the Ganges flows from south to north: Asi Ghat is upstream (and the ideal place to stay for peace and quiet, if that's your thing).

Darmabum

While there are motorized boats, I, personally, would have nothing to do with them; it would kill one of my favorite parts of the trip, the silence . . . the dip of oar into water . . . water dripping off the oars between strokes.
Thanks for the reminders too, of which way the Ganga flows. Oops
A suggestion, however, when you arrange your boatman - yourself or through a hotel - arrange for the trip from Point A to Point B, base the wage on distance and not on time. I've had boatmen start from Asi and not take a stroke until Harichandra Ghat (1/2 km or so) then repeatedly do the same at 1/2km intervals until we reached Manikarnika - when it came time to pay the boatman asked for twice our agreed rate, because it had taken so long
Agree with hfot2 - Asi is a great part of town.