Monday, August 24, 2009

About places to stay in Varanasi, India

A forwarded email from a friend of a friend who is suggesting a place to stay. I love it. Especially the last part about the monkeys who wake you up in the morning. I get tears in my eyes when I imagine myself in India working with the girls at the Soma Home for Girls. It looks like I will spend 3 weeks there helping teach English and maybe some beginning yoga to the young girls who live there. Most are daughters of prostitutes who wouldn't otherwise have much of a life or an education.

"Alternatively she could stay in Varanasi on the Ganga, which is about a 30 minute auto rickshaw commute and costs about Rs 150 ($3.50) each way, if I remember correctly. It's a bit of a walk to where she would need to pick up the auto to Sarnath, as no rickshaws are allowed in the ancient city and only cycle rickshaws are allowed close to the entrance of the old city. I usually stay at Shanti guesthouse near Manikarnika (main burning) ghat. You have to climb a zillion stairs to get to the terrace, but once you are there you get to sleep in a caged outdoor dormitory for Rs25/night! (50 cents). The monkeys are sometimes annoying when they snarl at you through the bars and pound on the metal roof to wake you up in the morning. But the view of the city is unparalleled. It is truly awesome to wake up to all those sights and smells."

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