My SOLO trip to the holy city, VARANASI, although I was never alone there
Total Cost of the Trip: - INR 4500 (approx.)
Travel Month: October 2019
Here is my one night and two days itinerary
This was the 11th-hour plan, so I got train tickets a bit expensive. Although, there are several trains to Varanasi from Delhi with reasonable price. I travelled via Vande Bharat express. This is a super fast train to reach Varanasi in the same from Delhi. Cost of the ticket INR 2030. I boarded the train at 6 AM and by 2 PM, I arrived in Varanasi. Train offered very good breakfast and lunch. All and above it was neat and clean with 4 star facilities such as newspaper, cleaner for the washroom etc.
DAY 1-Places covered : Ghats, Evening Aarti (Dashashwamedh Ghat), Street foods.
I arrived at Varanasi in the afternoon around 2 PM. It's easy to find local transport from the railway station. Autos and taxis are just a few steps away. I took an auto from station to Zostel (bag packer hostel) @120 Rs. and with traffic jam as well as zig-zag alleys I reached to the hostel in one and half hours. Finally, I met this amazing guy Raj. Who is the in-charge of Zostel Varanasi and with his help; I was able to cover most of the attractions in my two days tour.
After settling down in the assigned dorm, I along with other solo travelers headed for the boat ride. One of the Zostel caretakers dropped us to Dashashwamedh Ghat. There are two main Ghats in Varanasi for the ritual of worship and Dashawamedh Ghat is one of them and well known in Varanasi. We started our boat tour in the holy river Ganga and covered all famous ghats . Cost for Boat tour @120. Boat tour’s main highlight was the sunset. It was incredible to see sun setting down in river Ganga. After the boat tour, we halted to witness the evening aarti ceremony at Daswahwamedh Ghat, which was for around 2/3 hours. It was an amazing experience, witnessing all the ritual and local people with folded hands and came forward to perform their obeisance . Its started raining although by the time evening Aarti could start but the ghat was brimming with locals and tourists with great enthu and tons of bells rattling , it was truly tranquil.
Learning: -when we stared our boat tour , it was perfecting right time, however, when it come to an end, it started getting dark, a bit early compared to summer months. Here, I would suggest, taking boat ride in the early morning or during daytime.
I started my street food drive right after finishing the evening Aarti along with other hostel mate. We stopped at famous Deena Chat Bhandarr and tried the famous Tamatar Chat and Allo Tikki. No doubt the taste was unique and flavorful, however, I found Tamatar chaat is more like Indian’s main course which could be eaten with any bread. We moved forward for another outlet and tasted Katori chaat, palak patta chaat and Gulab Jamun. Ended this tour with famous lassi at blue lassi shop. Back to the hostel around 9.30 PM. We were so full but still , high on energy and decided to try Pizzeria cafe at Assi Ghat. We tried famous apple pie and ordered espresso coffee on the side . We were 12-15 people altogether and determined to roam in the alleys of Varanasi and witnessed night market, which was surprisingly lively and shining like anything.
COST:- Chat tour @150. Tuktuk ride @25, Pizaaeria café @150
DAY 2: Places covered:- Morning Aarti(rituals) at Assi Ghat, Kashi Vishwanath Temple, Sarnath
After the late-night talks and almost with no sleep, we left for Assi Ghat ( morning aarti ) at 4 AM. It was yet again another angelic atmosphere . It was dark and a bit hazy yet crowded by not only with local people but also tourist. Morning aarti was incredible and divine. I took a few dips in holy Ganga and then moved to Kashi cafe. Its small cafe and offers coffee and snacks. We had coffee, as it was needed and then I separated from the group and en routed for Shri Kashi Vishwanath temple . The temple was overcrowded ,however, after the long queue and wait I managed to see lord shiva and immediately took an exit from the temple. On the way back to the hostel, I tried a famous breakfast, which are allo puri and jalebi. One can find many outlets on the road side.
Raj (Zostel in charge) arranged my tour to Sarnath. Now it’s time to meet Shankar, the auto driver, who showed us another side of Varanasi. I would highly recommend to meet Shankar(auto driver) and to get more insight about the history of Varanasi as well as present situation and many other things . We started our journey to Sarnath, halted for tea, the famous kullad tea as suggested by Shankar and reached Sarnath. It was pleasant to visit the holy place of Budha and other nearby temples.There is museum and a store for silk items. I brought some beautiful silk scarfs at a reasonable price. Shankar showed us sacred alleys of Varanasi along with some ancient societies. After the half-day tour, we halted for lunch at Taste of Bananas. We ordered Bananasi Thali, which offers unlimited food for one pax . It was too much food for one person.
Recommendation:- Shankar auto rise and do not forget to write reviews in his diary
COST :- Breakfast @<50 ,Auto to Sarnath@300, Taste of Bananas@ 250
In the evening I boarded train for Delhi around 8 PM with loads of memories and new people on my friend list,
COST :- Train ticket@1455, Auto @120