All These Colors Tour: India Part 30
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Varanasi, India
Today’s walk took me through some long back lanes to Sonapura Road, where I headed Southeast to another part of town I’d never been to called Bhelpura. Along the way, I nabbed shots of some incredibly nice-looking weathered signs and walls, and other decrepit street scenes. Only one tout–a middle aged guy–followed me for a couple of blocks, trying to persuade me to visit his shop to buy a new shirt. He seemed mellow, and didn’t keep pushing it when I said I wasn’t interested. I think he even wished me a good day as he walked off. Using the setting sun as a guide, I easily found my way over to the Ganges river, and proceeded back up the bank toward “home.” I started to grow weary of hiking every day across the incredibly uneven, occasionally muddy, vile-smelling dirt banks that lie in between some of the ghats. Even though I’ve mostly enjoyed my stay here, maybe it’s time for my Varanasi visit to draw to close. After dinner, right as I set one foot outside the Brown Bread Bakery, a drug dealer stepped up beside me and offered me hash, then every other illicit substance known to man. I sternly told him, “I don’t do drugs!” and kept walking. Policemen (or maybe military guards) holding rifles, who always patrol the back lanes around here, were standing maybe 30 feet away. It’s pretty amazing how brazen that drug dealer was.
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Words and photos ©2012 Arcane Candy.
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