One of the great things about my travel in India has been the fantastically hospitable home stays I have encountered. These are abundant in India and offer such a unique experience in so many ways. One of their huge benefits has been the home cooking, which is infinitely preferable to the food available in most restaurants and hotels. In these such establishments (especially at the budget end) the cooking is never performed by women and rarely by trained men, but by someone just assigned to work in the kitchen - with all the resulting health ramifications. Consequently I was keen to find another good home stay in Agra, but was not so confident in finding one in such a big city. Also having spoken with several travellers who were less than positive about Agra and the accommodation available, I was pleased when I came across the Heritage Homestay on the internet.


The Heritage Homestay turned out to be a twelve bedroom house right in the Agra “Green Belt” about 1 .5 Km south of the Taj Mahal. This area (of which I was unaware) was built by the British for their politicians and army generals, hence the large stone houses with substantial gardens. Following Indian Independence these were purchased by local and out of state families. Venno and her husband‘s home stay was acquired by one such family. Her forward thinking grandfather purchased this huge house and a local petrol station business in the early fifties and moved his Punjabi family here.


Their house sits on a quiet road - yes “quiet” in the middle of Agra city. It is surrounded by large homes (which are all still family owned), plus a park, some fields and the old British built golf course. It reminded me of St George’s Hill in Weybridge. Venno‘s large family house was now shared with her brother and a distant cousin. Her father had started the home stay business ten years ago, and they had three rooms in their portion of the house .
The house itself stood next to a large field, which had several peacocks and many parquets living there. I also saw kingfishers and hoopoes there. Venno’s husband had planted a mustard field at the front of the property which backed onto the large garden. A cattle grid prevented cows from wandering down the long drive, and the only noise was the distant Mullah calls to prayer. No horns, no salesman, no hassle, perfect. Venno produced fabulous dhal and curries on demand. My room was huge and the family friendly and interesting. All in all it was all very relaxing.


On my arrival from Ranthambhore, I was exhausted after my tiger watching marathon and another fraught train and bus journey. The next day I decided on a morning out of town excursion to Fatephur Sikri, the former Mughal capital built by Akbar the Great and an afternoon just relaxing. This involved another 5.00am start in order to beat the crowds and catch the photographic light. Fatephur Sikri turned out to be enthralling. Fantastic palaces, mosques and forts rising out of the plains on the border with Rajasthan.


The following day was another early start, with a sunrise visit to the Taj Mahal, where I met Rachael and Joe again, the travellers from Yorkshire. The Taj did not disappoint in all its glory, and the morning was spectacular with brilliant blue sky and a resplendent building . I can now understand what all the fuss is about. Joe and Rachael headed off after the morning viewings and we agreed try and meet again in Varanasi. I was still determined to see the Taj from the other side of the river, and again wanted to capture some photos in the morning mist. So the next morning I was up at 5.00am again and luckily sunrise duly obliged and I was treated to a spectacular misty sunrise, which enveloped the Taj. Afterwards my tuk tuk drove me to the “Baby Taj”. The I’timad-ud-Daulah is a mausoleum built at a similar time, with the same marble and exquisite work. With no one visiting at such an early hour it was a real treat to walk around in complete silence.


The following day was somewhat frustrating as I found it hard to procure a rail ticket and I was faced with a further two days in Agra at this great home stay. This was hardly a problem. As this day was also a holiday for the Muslim festival of the “Id” in India, I decided on a further excursion back to the Taj to see all the pilgrims leaving the mosque within the grounds of the Taj . Being a holiday, there was no entrance fee for the Taj and whilst this saved me some pounds, it also ensured the monument was overflowing with tourists. But the throngs of tourists were soon dwarfed by the rush of white coated and white hatted Muslims leaving the Taj at 11.00am. It provided a memorable scene. The atmosphere in this thousand strong crowd was very friendly and celebratory with surprisingly little pushing and shoving. Many tourists just looked bemused as the Muslim pilgrims swept past.


My final day in Agra was spent at the slightly disappointing Agra Fort and then once more back at the Taj for sunset (which on this occasion was not as good as sunrise). In the evening I said goodbye to the delightful Venno and and caught the 23.30 express to Varanasi.


The non-ac Sleeper, was cold, dirty, noisy and full of people . Unfortunately my bedding had disappeared before I had boarded the train. The windows and doors were left open so the night time temperatures were freezing. The toilet was very unpleasant, and the smell equally so and getting to sleep proved difficult. No conductor appeared for the duration of the journey and this ensured I was worried about my gear. The train arrived in Varanasi Junction some three hours late and I was collected from the station by Lalete, from the Gianpati Hotel. I was keen on securing some good accommodation in Varanasi with good riverfront views and was concerned that the Varanasi or its “very-nasty” reputation would turn out to be true. The Gianpati Hotel ended up again as a great choice, plus it turned out to be the cleanest guesthouse I have so far encountered in India. This hotel was cleaned to a western standard and I was confident I could eat off the bathroom floor (if need be). Friendly staff, great views, safe and with all the rooms arranged around a courtyard and a fountain, actually delivered what the guidebooks had promised . It seemed a world away from the incessant hassle, mountains of rubbish, piles of animal excrement, narrow streets and wandering cows and buffalos, who were kept outside.


Again my first day again involved a train trip recovery and as it rained in the morning I actually ended up missed nothing outside. On further inspection of the waterfront I noticed that the water level of the Ganges was still very high, after the a long and dramatic monsoon, so many of the Ghats (steps) were still submerged. This actually turned out to be less of a problem than I first feared.


Varanasi was the all round experience that I had expected. All the stories you hear beforehand do not prepare you for the full experience the ghats and the religious activity provide. I decided on taking fellow traveller’s advice that it was best to start with a walking tour of the streets and the Ghats with a local guide, to help me understand a bit more of this unique experience . I enlisted Lalete from the hotel, a friendly 19 year old, who turned out to be excellent. Our tour started the following day at 5.00am right at the “Burning Ghat”. Here Lalete explained and showed me the cremation procedure and the body preparation from a distance. I declined his invitation to go closer to where the body that was being prepared that morning, feeling it was intrusive - especially as the family was right there. I watched the pyre being lit and the body being washed and left as it was hoisted on to the embers.


We then snaked our way through the narrow streets to more Ghats to see pilgrims bathing in the morning sun. This was a much more joyous event than what I witnessed at the Burning Ghat and was explained by Lalete. After three hours I returned to the Gianpati for breakfast and prepared to see the evening ceremony at a neighbouring Ghat.


The evening ceremony is performed by eight priests each night in front of the Ganges on a little raised platforms. Carefully choreographed, each priest raised several offerings to the river whilst being accompanied by music. This ceremony has turned into a bit of a tourist show, with hordes of people watching from boats and the steps. I was in the crowd on the steps, watching in disgust as many foreigners elbowed their way to the front of the crowd and showed little respect to the religious nature of the event.


The following morning Joe and Rachael turned up and we agreed to travel together to Darjeeling and see a little more of Varanasi before we left. We immediately took to exploring the narrow labyrinth of lanes in the old town of Varanasi behind the celebrated Ghats. We found fantastic tailors producing great silks and cashmeres. Excellent restaurants with Dosas and stunning Lassis. Lalete introduced us to an excellent Chai maker. I had thought all Chai was disgusting after tasting several on trains, but this was outstanding. The narrow lanes were very disorientating and easy to get lost. Quite often the whole street would be blocked by motorcycles, pilgrims, cows, fighting feral dogs or street hawkers. It was chaotic and some times quite squalid. Nevertheless all the while we never too far from the sanctuary that was the Gianpati Hotel.


We ended up taking two dawn boat trips on the Ganges to view the Ghat activity. On the whole it was reminiscent of going on a safari and I was wondering why the mostly good natured Indians put up with this steady stream of camera happy tourists imposing on their religious duties. However most of the time they are surprisingly tolerant offering me some great photographic opportunities.


The Burning Ghat was working particularly hard on our boat visits and we were luckily to avoid the sight of a ten year old girl’s body floating past the boat, something a Scandinavian couple from the hotel witnessed an hour after we had left the Ghat. On the whole the boat trips and the orange rising sun offered some memorable moments.


I also went on one last walking tour to the Muslim sector of Varanasi to see the more traditional lanes with the Muslim silk weavers and the Muslim butchers. I also ventured down to two more southerly Ghats, the Assi Ghat full of true local activity and the “romantic Ghat”, which Lalete described as a lover’s lane.


All in all Varanasi was a fabulous experience and completely surpassed my rather low expectations. Thanks to the Gianpati the incredible squalor was rarely experienced and it was only when the three of us left to go to the station, that we actually experienced (in that 90 min trip) what we had thus far managed to avoid.


Darjeeling was to be a welcome change.