What should I see in Varanasi?
There are a lot of unusual places in Varanasi which you can easily find in Google recommendations. Let me share our experience with you.
First what I recommend to see is Ganga Aarti ritual 🔥 Worth fire performance to see. The Ganga Aarti begins at 7 pm and lasts about 30 minutes. You can enjoy this ritual from the boat on the river or just stay on the riverside. Needless to say, this time it is a really crowded place. Find Ganga Aarti on the riverside near Fish Market.
The second one is really unusual for European people – burning dead people on the riverside. During this process is playing fun music, and if you don’t know that it is an open crematorium, you can be misled that there is some celebration. It takes place on Panchganga Ghat.
If you occasionally come there about 12 am, you will also see a ceremony where other people dance and monks sprinkle them by ash and paints. People look so happy and blessed🌈.
Of course, Varanasi has plenty of temples, impressive riverside and thin streets. So you just can get lost and enjoy an exotic experience.
Finally, for me was a discovery place with gorgeous street art which I expected to run into least. This district is called Sheetla Ghat.
Where can I find good food in Varanasi?
We find a good restaurant New Baba Restaurant & Icecream Parlour. It is a family business. They prepare tasty food, have a low price and serve big portions. Oh, and the most important thing – NOT spicy🌶️🤪.
All fruits and vegetables we bought on the Fish Market. There are two types of sellers – first, they sell products on permanent places and always try to take more money, and second – they sit on the ground and just put fruits on the blanket. As you can guess, the same products of the second sellers are considerably cheaper 😉.
How to get to Varanasi airport from city for 24 INR (0.32$)?
To go from Varanasi city to the Varanasi airport, you can take a taxi or tuk-tuk. Price 600 INR (8$) – 1500 INR (20$). Time 40 minutes. I would recommend using the app Uber or Ola because the negotiation process is not pleasant, and street taxi drivers always try to trick you.
But if you want to save money, you can take a bus. Price 24 INR (0.32$). Time 60 minutes. Boarding point – Chaudhary Charan Singh Bus Stand, Varanasi. It is a bus station which is situated near the railway station Varanasi Junction (BSB).
When you come to the bus station just ask bus drivers or conductors (they are the fastest and efficient navigation in India 😎 … oh, and for free 🤑) where stay buses to the Babatpur. There are a lot of local buses, so it won’t be a problem to take some. Okay, you are inside the bus. Then you need to pay for the ticket and just notify a conductor that you need to go to the airport.
After 40 minutes ride, you will be dropped off in 1.5 kilometres from the airport. It is 20 minutes by walk, and there is a pedestrian area, so walking will be pleasant. But if you don’t want to go on foot, there are a lot of tuk-tuks.
How about the facilities at Varanasi airport?
If you have an Indian sim card, you can only connect to free WiFi.
After security check, there is no place with drinking water which is popular for airports in India. Hence, you could be thirsty unless you buy water for 120 INR (2$). The same situation with food. I would recommend taking some sandwiches or fruits with you because there is a poor food choice whose price starts from 200 INR (3$).
If you want to save your travel budget, you can use the TripExBud application. We have created it for saving our money on a trip around the world, and it works very well 🤗
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