Posts

Showing posts from December 30, 2009

Country #82: Myth-busting Incredible India: Varanasi

Image
I am an excellent procrastinator. I am so good at it that there are moments when, after noticing that an entire day has passed and nothing has gotten done, I feel an almost bizarre kind of pride in the extent of my skills. I believe it is this same well-honed tendency of mine that I have to blame for not having visited India earlier. For reasons that are still not clear to me, every time the subject of India, and more specifically of traveling therein, arises, there is someone in the room wanting to talk about how dirty/ crowded/ difficult/ smelly it is. Sure, there is usually someone crowing about how special and beautiful it is, but they are quickly shouted down by someone whose friend's cousin's neighbor went and got so sick that they developed a rash and eventually sprouted a tail. It is enough to wear you out. The flight has not been purchased or the hotels booked and already you are exhausted. Based on little more than this hearsay, I always thought of India as somewher