Woman Traveling In India Alone: Varanasi - Part 1 in India

 

Hi Steemit Friends.

People always ask me what it's like traveling around India solo. And as a woman.  So here goes... 

I'm starting a series of posts about my travels through India.  Spolier alert: I love it!!!

This post is filled with photos of my travel and the food I enjoyed, but others will include video.  So be sure to follow if you're interested and don't want to miss the next ones. (I'm new to Steemit, but am excited to jump in and join you all. Tips and thoughts appreciated as I start on this journey with all of you)

Here I am at a train station in Kerala. I just left an ashram (hence the white sari), but you can tell from this photo I'm still perfecting the art of packing lightly haha I have 2 backpacks, shoes dangling everywhere, and a bag of fruit for the ride. But more in Kerala, and packing in future posts. My first stop in India is in the Holy City of Varanasi.

Varanasi is a Holy City, where people actually come to die and to have funerals. At the funerals the dead bodies (covered in white cloth) are burned and put into the river.  The the US we called the river the Ganges, but in India it's called The Ganga. I didn't take any photos of this because it's considered extremely disrespectful to take photos, so obviously I didn't want to do that. But if you go to India, it's absolutely fascinating to see how death is handled so differently than in the West.

When I arrived it was really smoggy and more polluted than I imagined. Some of the locals said it was only fog, but when I breathed in, strongly my lungs felt weird, so who knows.

But I met so many kind and friendly people here. These guys came up and chatted with me as I sat by the river.

But Varanasi was a wonderful first stop in India. I took the bus here from Kathmandu in Nepal.

The ride was supposed to be 17 hours, but we hit a few patches of traffic, so it actually took 26 hours haha. But I actually didn't mind. The seats on the bus were pretty comfortable. And once we arrived in India, the roads were really nice. The roads in Nepal through the mountains, to get to the border...that was pretty crazy actually. I feel certain I've never been on such a bumpy and windy road before (and I'm not a new traveler). Btw, have you ever taken any crazy bus rides? When & where???

But I loved how lively and vibrant everything was in Varanasi (even with the smog). And I really loved how there are always fresh fruits and vegetables for sale on the street. I'm a fruit junkie.

And of course, with this being my first stop in India, I couldn't wait to have some amazing Indian food.

This is from Ashok Veg restaurant on Sonarpura Rd. They didn't disappoint.

I had the channa masala (chickpeas in sauce) and aloo palak (spinach and potatoes). Both were sooo delicious.

And no meal is complete without onions, green chilies and pickle! So many locals were surprised when I started biting into the chilies, but hey, some Americans love spicy food, and I'm one of them!

I got this masala dosa at a restaurant near the Assi Ghat (can't remember the name of it). If you've never had a dosa before, I highly recommend trying one. It's kind of like a crepe but the batter is fermented and made from rice and lentil flour. And the inside is filled with a savory and delicious potato fry. Other dosas (not masala) can have different fillings or none at all.

Here's a better look at the inside. I don't usually see so much onion and tomato inside a masala dosa (unless it's an onion masala), but I was happy about it. It was amazing, and it's not like I had anyone to kiss afterwards LOL  Also, if you're from India or any country where people eat with their hands...please disregard the fact that I was using my left hand to break into the dosa and show it. I needed my right to hold the camera! In many countries, eating with your left hand is seen as disgusting since it's the one people use in the bathroom. But I promise I actually ate with my right one haha

But Varanasi also has great Western food.

I got this tasty vegan, and gluten free sweet crepe from a restaurant called Vegan & Raw on Bhadaini. This place was so nice I went here twice.

My next time I ordered this raw, vegan pasta with walnut sauce. The noodles were made from carrots, and zucchini. It was so fresh and delicious I almost wanted to stay in Varanasi longer just so I could eat more of the food.

Since this was my first time in India, and I was traveling alone, I was really cautious about staying out late at night. So I was back at my hostel by the time is got dark every night, which was like 7pm (how sad lol). 

But another girl in my hostel kept coming in drunk after midnight and said she never had any issues...But for this first stop in India, I was in my room before dark for all 3 nights that I stayed here. But that changed as I continued my travels through India and got more comfortable. But more on that later...

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And you can check out my website:

http://www.romanlillie.com