Varanasi landing

I made it to Varanasi without incident, and connected with Narayan at the airport. It was great to see him again, after more than three years! I settled in to the backseat of the car and took in the sights on the hour-ish drive to his brother's guesthouse. Narayan has been without water at his guesthouse for the last four days, so Mintu's guesthouse is plan B.

We pulled up in front of a grand looking guesthouse, but did not go inside. Instead, Narayan and another fellow grabbed my bags and we headed across the street and down an alley. We followed this uneven cobblestone alley for what felt like a long time. It probably wasn't that far, but you know how everything feels longer when you don't know where you are going. Tall buildings with shops on the street level lined the alleys, which were congested with people, dogs, and scooters. We didn't run into any cows, though we passed several on the road when we were on the car. My senses were overwhelmed with the sights, sounds, and smells of Varanasi, which is a city.

We arrived at Mintu's place, Kedareswar Bed & Breakfast, and I got all checked in. I was feeling exhausted and overwhelmed and a little homesick for the comfortable familiarity of Ganeshpuri. I got settled in to my room and laid down for a rest. Narayan was returning in three hours, at 9pm, to take me to the reception portion of an Indian wedding. It's wedding season, you see, and Indian weddings are quite the party. I'm not much of a late night person, though, and when Narayan came knocking at 9pm, I was still asleep. I begged off the party, and returned to bed, where I slept until my alarm went off at 4am. I guess I needed that!

Doing my sadhana in the morning at my usual US time provided a grounding familiarity. I'm feeling refreshed and ready for all the new experiences that await me here! Narayan is coming shortly to take me to one of the temples. Here are a couple pics of my room at Mintu's B&B.

My bed is more comfortable than I expected!

The air conditioner is powerful and keeps my room nicely cooled (top middle - you can barely see it).

I was pleasantly surprised to find hot water for the shower. The bathroom feels luxurious.

The B&B is right on the Ganges River. When I peeked out the front door, this was my view.

And this is down a few steps.

To be continued...