Contents
- Getting to my hotel and room.
- Exploring nearby my hotel and Lunch
- Getting my local SIM card
- Dinner and a Night walk along the Ganges River
- Good morning, Ganges River.
- Last views
Getting to my hotel and room
I booked an auto-rickshaw to my hotel. About 1.6km away from my hotel, the driver told me that auto rickshaws cannot go any further. After debating with him shortly, and having no choice, I obliged and got off and paid the 180Rupees.
I was planning to walk to my hotel. But the nearby rickshaw driver asked to send me there for 200Rupees. I said no and showed him the address of my hotel in English. He haggled with me, and in the end, he agreed to settle for 50Rupees, which is Ok for me.
I was wondering if he really knew where the guest house was since the address was in English.
After about 500-600m, he asked me to alight. Without saying anything and signifying that the trip has ended. Seeing other people around, I didn’t bother to make a fuss and paid the 50Rupees.
Then walked the 1km to my guest house.
Ignoring the many many auto rickshaws that I saw along the way.
Was I scammed? Kind of.
Exploring nearby my hotel and Lunch
I couldn’t google translate the Hindi menu. Luckily, the waiter could speak English.
I ordered a masala thosai (dosa) for lunch.
However, it was a good mistake. The poori and the curry that came with it was very delicious.
There was a sweet dessert that came with the poori. My Indian friends told me it is called jelabi. Even though it was actually too sweet for me, it wasn’t too big, so I finished the whole dessert.
Have to thank my Indian friends, and due to our Indian meals, I have training to eat very properly with only my right hand.
What a wonderful Indian lunch! This is my first full Indian meal in India.
Getting my local SIM card
There aren’t many shops that sell SIM cards. You have to find the actual telco shops, which aren’t many around.
Googled and found a Jio shop. Walked 2km to the shop, but the staff told me that Jio has some problems registering foreigners for SIM cards.
So, I had to walk further down, trying to get an Airtel SIM card since my Singapore SIM card can already get Vodafone Idea line via roaming, and I wanted a different telco. But, the Airtel staff told me to come back tomorrow to get it. I suspect it is because of how troublesome it is to register a foreigner for a SIM card.
I then walked to Vodafone Idea to get the SIM card. Wow. The hassle of getting it registered is crazy!!
First, you need a local Indian phone number to verify the registration. I obviously do not have a local Indian phone number.
So, the staff used the number listed for my hotel to get a PIN for verification. She then called my hotel and asked for the PIN, which was sent to verify. My hotel declined, citing a possible scam, which I totally agree!!
So, the staff then asked one of the customers in the shop for his phone number and got the PIN to verify. The customer didn’t bother and allowed it. (I was thinking that the staff could actually use her own mobile number for this verification.)
Next, I had to wait 15 mins for the initial registration to finish.
After that, I need to activate the SIM card by getting a PIN from the earlier used Indian phone number. BUT, that customer had left already. So, the staff tried calling that customer. In the midst of calling that customer, the staff was able to get through to the verification staff on the phone, and discussed the situation. Somehow, they were able to activate the SIM without needing the PIN now.
After activation, it took some time before I could use the line. So more waiting for it to be used.
After full usage was possible, I was told to pay 800 Rupees for the registration and activation. Which I thought was quite expensive since the plans online were only about 400 Rupees or less. But I didn’t bother to argue. I paid and asked for a receipt, but the staff said, “No receipt”. Funny.
I suspect that some money was pocketed.
Never mind that lah. Just the hassle!!
After this initial 800 Rupees, the recharge for the next cycle would only be 349 Rupees. My plan is 2gb per day for 28 days.
The local line connection is so much better than the roaming connection that I have on my Singapore SIM card, even though they are both using the same network. So, now, I would be hot spotting the local number instead.
The good thing is that, supposedly, this SIM card is tied to my Indian visa. So in other words, it is valid for 5 years. Even if I don’t recharge it, I can still use it in subsequent trips to India by recharging it then.
Dinner and a Night walk along the Ganges River
I was initially looking for rice for dinner as I felt I had too much fried stuff already.
But seeing this place, I thought I would try it.
At first, I thought it was a Burger King restaurant and was ready to try the Indian Burger King. Instead, I got to try Burger Emperor.
They serve vegetarian burgers, noodles, and rice.
The Aloo Tikki Cheese burger was 100 Rupees. With a service charge of 5 Rupees, the meal costs 105 Rupees in total.
You can view a video of my short walk along the Ganges River via the link below:
https://www.relive.cc/view/vrqDNEQQnLO
There seems to a ceremony going on. There were lots of people watching the ceremony on land and on the boats. The many boats were packed with people.
Was originally planning to walk to a ghat popular for cremation. But the crowds were too scary for me to squeeze through.
Good morning, Ganges River.
Last views
I think I wouldn’t mind taking a boat ride along the Ganges River. But the guest house owner didn’t get back to me on the price for such a boat ride. And I didn’t want to bother haggling with the many people offering boat rides along the river. Maybe next time?
These photos do not do justice to the many sights at the Ganges River.
The Ganges River is filled with so many people of different characters. You can see the truly religious Hindus, with scammers, touts, people trying to bless you for a fee, beggars, yogis in their exotic attire (sometimes begging), children begging, children dressed up as deities so that you can either get a blessing from them for a fee or take their pictures, also for a fee, together with the tourists around. I have also met and interacted with many nice people, like in the eatery where I had my masala thosai and poori, in the many shops when I asked about getting a SIM card, the service staff at Burger Emperor, all polite and friendly without asking for a fee or tip.
Alongside the throngs of people, the ghats of the Ganges River are coupled with the vibrant ceremonies, local activities, busy colourful shops and alleyways.
All in all, it is a very intriguing and fascinating ecosystem of its own.
There are also the many stories of scams around Varanasi and along the Ganges River. So be cautious when visiting this mystical location. Let’s see if I would come back to the Ganges River at Varanasi again.
Will travel 