Kathmandu to Varanasi

I had forgotten what it was like to take an international flight out of Kathmandu. There was a queue to get into the airport, a queue to pay airport tax, a queue to check in with the airline, a queue to go through Nepali departure customs and a queue for the security check. The flight was about an hour late, which allowed me to actually sit down for a few minutes. Once we were shuttled across the tarmac, there was another queue for the final security check (the most strict of them all) before we boarded.

Once I got out of the airport in Varanasi and settled myself into a cab, I was joined by an Indian guy who would be riding into town with me. There was no explanation as to why he was in my car, but it soon became apparent that he was there to try to sell me guiding services as well as a hotel. I already had a booking at a hotel, which he insisted he had visited that morning and was full and that I should follow him to his hotel. Once he realized that he would not be getting any business out of me, he jumped out of the car. When I got to my hotel, I found out that Wayne had received the same treatment coming from the train station, and another Canadian couple who were on my flight shared the same adventure. Welcome to India, the scam capital of the world.

The "streets" of Varanasi are absolutely wild. It is a rabbit's warren of little passageways, with no grid or logic to them. There's no chance we'll ever be able to find our way around here and it's a bit frightening to be out there and perpetually lost. Wayne and I set out early this morning and after breakfast started to do some sightseeing. We hadn't gone five steps before someone took us under his command and started leading us all through town. He maintained that he didn't want money but after awhile admitted that a stop at his silk shop was in order. We had a hard time shaking him, but finally went into a guest house that was reputed to have a rooftop terrace to check it out. We spent the rest of the day there enjoying the view of the Ganges and drinking beer (which is very hard to find here). At the end of 24 hours I have seen nothing of Varanasi but am having a blast. I'm not sure if Wayne is the best traveling companion ever or if we're terrible influences on each other. One way or another, it seems to be working :-).