FICTITIOUS FREAK: VARANASI DIARY||TRAVEL BLOG (PART-1)

Travelling is a part of my life. It gives me an air to breathe and wings to fly from all the stress which we have to deal with. Varanasi trip was a sudden plan. It was a trip for 3 days only. We covered as much as we can.

Journey Begins:

We began our journey on 27th of December, 2016. We left for Howrah at around 11.30 am in the morning. We were all pumped and charged up for the trip. It took a good 1 hour by taxi to reach at Howrah station. We had our lunch at IRCTC Canteen. Our train was Amritsar Express. The train left the platform from Howrah at 1.50 pm. It was on time. We booked 3 Tire AC coach at Rs. 1740/-. It was so clean and well maintained that we already began to enjoy our journey even before it started. The persons who were giving service to us they were also very friendly and was always ready to serve us whatever we need. Soon after the train left the station they gave us clean white bed sheet, a pillow, a towel and one blanket. Amritsar Express has no pantry so you have to carry your own food or you can buy it on board. At night we had our dinner which was made at home. We thoroughly enjoyed our journey. We reached at Varanasi station at around 10.30 am in the morning. Overall I was satisfied with my journey in Amritsar Express.

28/12/2017 :

ST. THOMAS CHURCH

The day was a memorable one for me. The holiest city of India was welcoming us. I can feel the purity in its air. We quickly hired an auto to reach our hotel Alibaba. We booked it from goibibo.com https://www.goibibo.com/flights/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=DF-Brand-EM&utm_adgroup=Only%20Goibibo&gclid=CjwKCAjwtdbLBRALEiwAm8pA5eBG5xpHWxYitzV1ZpoM0RHs0LGFwaiVaxnN3WTholuKDeH5gp0s-xoCh0kQAvD_BwE . The person who is communicating with us from the hotel told us to leave the auto at Gowdoloya Chourasta in front of St. Thomas Church. We reached our destination and left the auto as we were instructed. We had to walk for 10 minutes to reach our hotel Alibaba at Bangali Tola. Bangali Tola is so congested yet the small streets astonished me every time. It was like a new world to me. There were so many things going on the streets but I was so tired to give them glance at that point of time. Alibaba was such a nice hotel. It has only lodging. We booked Non AC rooms at Rs. 700/- per night. We were there at winter so we didn't feel it necessary to book AC rooms. The room was clean, well maintained and the most important above all that the bathroom was clean enough. We were hungry so quickly we freshened up and then went outside to have our lunch. There were so many hotels but we decided to have "Macher Jhol-Vat" so without wasting any time we went to a roadside restaurant where we ordered Fish Thali (Rs. 120/-). It was a comforting food which gave our hungry tummy full satisfaction after a long journey. We felt sleepy after the lunch so we resolute to rest for some time. We returned to our hotel and took a nap. We woke up at 4.30 pm and got ready for the Grand Ganga Aarati.

Ganga Aarati :

Varanasi is the city of Maa Ganga. Maa Ganga runs here in her own rhythm. There are many ghats in Varansi but the most famous one is Dasaswamedh Ghat where the magnificent aarati takes place. When I was walking towards the ghat I could hear the roar of wind. The wind was blowing like a proud kite. The temperature was then 12 degree Celsius The aarati begins at 6 pm. We took a boat which allowed us to seat for one hour. You can see the whole aarati right from Ganga at Rs. 50 per head. If you want then you can hire the whole boat for that one hour at Rs. 600 and the owner of the boat will give you a ride on Ganga for extra 15 minutes.

We settled down to our seats and were fully ready to be a witness of the majestic aarati. The aarati begins at sharp 6 pm. It was an experience of lifetime which I can hardly sum up in words. I was having goosebumps all the time. It was seemed as if the sound of the conch was coming out of the heaven.

The rhythm of the aarati song, the glorious wind and the pure music of the conch were altogether making a celestial feeling. I was completely lost in that heavenly world. After that splendid one hour we bought lamps and floated in Ganga. I can feel the purity of it till now whenever I closed my eyes.

Gowdoloya And Bangali Tola:

It is the best place for shopping and it is a paradise for foodie. At every stop you will find various food stalls. You will find not only Indian food but food from outside of India too specially from Japan, Korea and Israel. There were tourists from everywhere as if people from all over the world came here to greet each other. We had some snacks and we shopped for our families.

It was almost 10 pm when we realized that we needed to hurry up because the shops were shutting down one by one. We were almost full to have heavy dinner so we decided to have some light food. We went to Jyoti Cafe which was very near to our hotel. I highly recommend this hotel to you all who wants to try new food. I just love the place. It was so comforting and the owner is a true gentleman. We ordered a plate of Tomato Spaghetti, one plate of Fried Rice and Chilly Chicken and one plate of Pitta Bread with Shakshuka. With this delicious dinner we ended our day here.

Address of Jyoti Cafe : Shop No.D.32/2, Bangali Tola Lane, Dashaswmedh Road, Dashaswmedh ,Near Khalishpura masjid,Onthe way Kautilya, Bangali Tola, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh 221001