Varanasi travelogue

THIS TRAVELLOGE IS ONLY FOR VARANASI. SINCE VARANASI WAS THE ONLY NEW PLACE I WENT TO IN THIS AUGUST 2016 TRIP

Trip to Varanasi

Our trip started by landing at Delhi Airport from Kathmandu on 3rd August, 2016. From Delhi airport we went straight to Jhunjhunu, Rajasthan. That is where we go to pray to our god. On the way back from Jhunjhunu to Delhi we stopped at a few temples. We stayed in Delhi for 2 days, and then got the train to Gorakhpur. Next morning we were in Gorakhpur. Went to my mom’s house; party. Then we went to my dad’s house and then headed for Varanasi also referred as Banaras with my parents, my younger brother, my grandmother and also my elder cousin sister.

Day 1:

Reaching Varanasi…
The train from Deoria (my dad’s house) came to Varanasi City station at 10:30 am. My uncle (fufaji) and cousin brother were at the station waiting for us. We went to their new house they had just moved to in Varanasi. I was happy to meet my aunt (buaji), my cousin brothers and also my little cousin sister. We had some traditional kachori sabji at their house as breakfast which was indeed delicious.

Temples…
The month of August is considered as the month of worshipping Lord Shiva. This entire month is dedicated in receiving blessings of Lord Shiva, known as Sawan. In Varanasi is the most famous temple dedicated to Lord Shiva known as Kashi Vishwanath Temple. After breakfast and shower we headed to Viswanath Temple. The traffic was deadly. I will talk more about that later. After Viswanath temple we went to my uncle’s (taoji) house near that temple. We were in their house for about 2 hours and in the mean time my parents were shopping. From their house we went to another temple called Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple. It was 7:00 pm by the time we finished everything at Sankat Mochan. After having some ice cream we headed back to my uncle’s (fufaji) house. It was 8:30 pm by the time reached the house. The house from that temple is only around 2km, which took us 1 hour 30 minutes! I know that shocking, but that’s the time it takes with Varanasi traffic especially in this month.

Reached home…
After reaching home no one had the energy to cook food and eat, so we just decided to go out for dinner in a restaurant. The restaurant was good and had mouth-watering food. After getting back from the restaurant we all just slept without wasting even a second! That was the level of tiredness we had from the whole day of visiting temples and especially wasting hours stuck in the traffic.

Day 2:

Ganga River…
I woke up at 5:00 am to go the holy river Ganges. Ganges flows through India and also Bangladesh. We had left the house by 6:00 am and reached by 6:15 am at the Dashashwamedh Ghat. We took a little bath in the Ganges. It was very relaxing and pleasurable. It is considered that if you take a bath in the Ganges then your body is purified. After the bath we went to another temple to do another puja after being purified. Later we had breakfast.

Going back from Varanasi …
Our last stop was my uncle's (taoji) house where I went with my parents. He owned a very stunning hotel called Hari Vilaas, which was indeed very neat and clean. We were at their house for around 30 minutes and in that time he also order a pasta with white sauce for us from his restaurant which was without any doubt extremely delicious.

The departing time of the train was 2:00 pm. We had planned to leave their house by 1:00 pm, it takes 45 minutes to reach. I started booking an Ola cab at 12:30 pm so it would come by 1:00 pm, because in Varanasi it takes a long time for Ola’s. I could not find any cabs, none showed up on the app. Then after around 10 minutes one prime showed up, I immediately booked that one and rang the driver. He said he will be there in 15 minutes so I confirmed the booking.

After 10 minutes I called him again to ask, how long will he take? He told me he would be there in another 10 minutes; we started to think that it might get late. We still waited for 10 minutes for him to come. He didn’t arrive. I called him again and he said another 10 minutes! I cancelled the booking and then we decided to look for another one immediately. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any cabs until 1:20 pm. We were already very late!

So, we decided to squash into a Solar Auto, which was all we could find, after all not that bad, until we realized that he had brought us to the wrong railway station! It was 1:30 pm. You can probably imagine the situation we were at – super tensed and worried! My dad got angry at the driver and was like why did you come to this place? Immediately go to the other station! I don’t have any words to describe that moment, because it wasn’t just the fact that we would miss the train but the fact that half of the people – cousin sister and my younger brother didn’t come to my uncle’s (taoji) house, they stayed back at my other uncle’s (fufaji) house and they had already reached the station with luggage and had sat in the train. That moment was extremely nerve-racking!

After 2-3 minutes we saw a gas Auto which would run much faster than the solar auto, we shifted to that auto and told him to accelerate as fast as possible to the railway station, it was 1:45 pm. That guy – the auto driver was an extremely kind hearted person, he drove the fastest he had ever in his entire life and made us reach in time to the railway station. He was just a god who had appeared to help us! We reached the railway station at 1:50 pm, which was just in time! The train departed at 2:00 pm, on time, which was the end of our beautiful, happy and memorable journey!

By- Shreyas Agrawal,
Year 10,
The British School, Kathmandu, Nepal  
 

Dharahara article

I have written an article titled THE LIFE, PAIN AND DEATH OF DHARAHARA on the anniversary of earthquake. This article is based on a beautiful painting which I saw in an exhibition at Siddhartha Art Gallery.

THE LIFE, PAIN AND DEATH OF DHARAHARA 

I AM DHARAHARA. Oh no! I was Dharahara , the tallest building in Nepal. God! Me? Really me? Yes it was me who fell down in the devastating Earthquake which hit Nepal with a rector scale of 7.8! As I started to shake, I knew my death was coming. In a few seconds I was dying myself. Within a few seconds, from being the biggest attraction in the city, I became the biggest killer. From giving smiles to people's face, to killing hundreds of people and breaking into hundreds of pieces before my last breath. Did I deserve this? Did I actually kill them? When I fell it was horrible, hurtful and haunting for me. 

There was a small house next to me and that was in danger, all my fault. Me, the evil building, fell on the house killing all the people in the house as well as people around it. Lots of dust and dirt stormed as I fell to the ground. It really was painful. Me, a beautiful sparkling white tower, in no time, turned into a gloomy, grey and ugly mix of my debris and dead bodies. 

I died a year ago along with my dearest people. I know, Kathmandu wants to create me again, taller than before, stronger than before. But I am finished, I am dead. My soul is not. I can reincarnate. Thank you Kathmandu. 

 Shreyas Agrawal Year 9,
The British School, Kathmandu, Nepal. 
The writing is inspired by the painting. 

Ooty travelogue!

Ooty: Excitement in another mountain!

While living in Kathmandu surrounded by beautiful Himalayan mountains one would not want to spend a holiday in another mountain range. That’s what I argued with my parents when we decided to go to Ooty during our Dashain break. Nevertheless, coupled with some other places in the southern part of India, we still headed to Ooty. Also known as the ‘queen of hill station’ or Blue Mountain, Ooty, in retrospect, I think, was a great choice and a fascinating experience.  

We drove from Mysore through famous Bandipur national park in Karnataka to reach Ootywhich is situated at an altitude of 2,240m. We needed to drive on very steep slopes and turns appropriately called ‘hairpin bends’, covering 34 km and the entire altitude within an hour from the plains. Ooty, officially known as Ootacamund is a small town, a municipality, and the headquarters of the Nilgiris district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The highlights of my trip are the toy train ride, visit to the botanical garden and photography at the tea gardens! The toy train ride from Ooty to a nearby town Coonoor is the best part and must not be missed. It is so popular that one has to stand two hours in the queue for buying the ticket. The ride in the mountains is 1h 5min long and covers 17 km giving you a breathtaking experience, something which one must experience. Coonoor is an extraordinary place to be, the best place for looking at splendid mountain peaks from a view point locally known as Dolphin Nose. On the way back, one should come via road to enjoy the tea gardens with stunning view. People stop there for photography. We did as well. 

Strolling around the Ooty streets after 7:00 pm was also a memorable experience. We enjoyed shopping from the streets and eating lip-smacking south Indian food in the cheapest possible price on the street. To be honest, it tasted much better than the one in the big restaurants. We stayed in Meadows Residency and I would highly recommend newcomers going to that hotel. It is one of the most value for money, neat and clean with great service hotel in Ooty. Oh my God! How can I miss talking about the Ooty’s special chocolates! Yummy, the locally made chocolates from Ooty are the best possible gift you can give to anyone. We in fact saw a small chocolate factory but we couldn’t go inside. There are several varieties of chocolates coming in various shapes, sizes and tastes with a very reasonable price tag.  You must not miss out on this special gift from Ooty. 

My trip to Ooty was indeed very good, enjoyable and enriched my mountain experience in addition to the hills around Kathmandu.  I would recommend Ooty for people who want a relaxing and beautiful holiday to a splendorous place in the Western Ghats offering a complete different culture, mountains, food and experience than the Himalayas. If I had to pick one favorite moment from the trip, it has to be the tea garden and the stunning pictures. So, you have planned your next trip already to Ooty right? Well if not, you should since Nepal Airlines offers you a direct flight from Kathmandu to Bangalore in a very reasonable price and Ooty is only a few hours drive from Bangalore through the beautiful Mysore palace and the famous national park. I hope your trip will be as exciting as mine! 

Shreyas Agrawal

Year 9, 

The British School, Kathmandu