Varanasi part 2

We are currently still in Varanasi. Today we took a sunrise boat ride (in a huge rowboat) along the Ganges River. There are a series of Ghats or step-like platforms that go down to the river. Above the Ghats are the various old buildings of the town that have been around for hundreds of years. It was very interesting to compare/contrast what our tour books said about the river with what the tour guide was saying.

Our tour book reported that the Ganges had 1.5million ppm of fecal coliform bacteria in it when the max for bathing should be 500 ppm. Part of the contamination was due to several sewage tubes dumping directly into the river. It also said that the river was so contaminated that it was depleted of oxygen and fish couldn’t survive.

Our tour guide explained the religious aspects of “Mother Ganges” and how important it was for the Hindu religion. According to their beliefs, it was promised that the Ganges would not meander (it would stay on the same path), there would be no dangerous animals in it, and ….something else. (I promise I was paying attention but it was around 5am in the morning and there are no Starbucks in India to help me focus.) In addition, the Ganges is seen to be an important place to wash away one’s sins and it is a highly desired place to die and/or be cremated. The tour guide said that the people using it to drink, bathe, and even wash their teeth never get sick. He admitted there was pollution but it was mainly coming from industries along the river. (I’m not sure which industries he meant.)

From the boat ride, the banks of the river were beautiful to see from the water and there was a gorgeous sunrise that we were able to see. The banks were crowded with men and women doing laundry, washing themselves, and meeting with priests. There were even cows and goats at random intervals along the ghats…apparently they enjoyed the view as well. The old buildings above the banks had a lot of character and charm. We did see a tower that was purifying the sewage coming from it but right next to it was sewage coming directly from the town into the river. I guess it takes time to retrofit an old city like Varanasi. The river itself looked pretty normal overall (aside from the dead body we saw…)

After the boat ride, we made our way through the old part of the town with extremely narrow roads lined with shops and temples. Unfortunately I was trying too hard to keep up with group while dodging various types of droppings on the ground (our tour guide jokingly called them “holy cow dung”) to soak in the atmosphere as much as I would have liked to have done. By the way, in case you were wondering, all the guards with big rifles are guarding the mosque…I don’t suggest you try to take its picture unless you want a lot of unwanted attention from the guards (as one member of our group learned.)