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Originally Posted by Aditya Thanks for sharing![/b] |
Thanks a ton, I think of all the people I have bugged you the most for those numerous formatting alteration requests. Thanks for all the prompt support.
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Originally Posted by Samba Keep travelling and keep sharing these awesome travelogues. Rated 5*. |
Many thanks for you complements, and glad you liked. The Arati pics are great captures from your post. May be someday a few of us newbies can get a chance to become vagabond on roads too along with you.
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Originally Posted by thiagar I was curious with the title, 'Lost'. |
Thank you dear for the complements, actually we were lost on one of those days in search of Malaiyo in the Galis. Without help of the gentleman who guided us out it was difficult to come out on our own.
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Originally Posted by sam264_2000 Stayed at the same hotel - Ganges Grand and visited almost all those eateries in 3 days!! Did you get the Kheer Kadam packed for home? |
Thanks for the kind words, we really loved staying in Ganges Grand owing to its good service and excellent location. We did not take Kheer Kadam as its a widely available thing back here in Kolkata. Rather we focused on Peda since in Benaras, unlike Kolkata, Ox milk is used for its thickness to produce majority of the sweets.
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Originally Posted by TurboOnTarmac Excellent visual narration, lovely family and enjoyed some those nice scenic and important spots photos. |
Thanks for the nice words, even we hope this situation improves and we get to do our outings more freely as before.
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Originally Posted by amods Banaras is life. And the after life. |
Wow what a wonderful quote. I would have borrowed it had I heard it before.
I am in agreement with you its more lively than it appears in the photos. Glad you liked it. Take care of your parents and be safe.
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Originally Posted by aaychat Very descriptive and full of so many photos. I wish to visit Varanasi someday too.
Sorry if I am being a party pooper . . . I hope others see it that way too. |
No offences taken and I understand your intent is noble. What good is a community if it does not allow free thinking. When we planned the travel to Varanasi except upcoming elections there were no alarms from Government authorities, not even the numbers. Of course every one of us is responsible for their own well being and that I believe every responsible BHPian understands. I have made several travels during unlock and have a separate thread on the precautions followed, but I thank you for sounding the warning and point well taken, stay stay safe and we must follow tons of precautions even when staying at home so be receptive to all ideas and suggestions and judge accordingly, travel only when you think its safe.
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Originally Posted by kiran_aithal Amazing writeup. Reading through this made me feel as if I was on a live tour of Varanasi. Quite fascinated by the pictures; especially the food ones . |
Someone told me that we should have titled the thread with Food theme instead
, but that said, yes its an amazing place and glad you liked the account of the visit. When you feel things have improved go for the roads, Bangalore to Varanasi straight
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Originally Posted by turboNath This superb narrative brought back so many memories from our trip way back in December 2019. |
That 2019 TL is what pulled up the Varanasi visit zeal in the first place, thought you should know. And your tip for Ganges Grand worked like charm. 10 Kachoris from Maharani on next visit from my side. Thank you for the complements.
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Originally Posted by Archisman What was your child eating while on the move?[/b] |
Thank you for the kind words. For the kid, while being on the highways we gave him rice based dishes like plain rice , dal , fish if available or fried rice only with no side dishes whenever we halted for meals. During breakfast if bread and egg not available then we carried hot water and cup noodles which he liked eating. For the days in Varanasi, Ganges Grand had all time boneless Bhetki fish available so Dal, Rice and Bhetki Fish most of the times in lunch or dinner unless we went to dine outside for chinese or italian cuisines. But overall no spicy food for him as they are difficult to digest more so if meals will not happen on time like at home. Out of the street foods, only badi kachori is what we let him have, nothing else., wherever he demanded we resorted to packed things like ice cream. Bodhgaya was also similar. Stopping regularly when you have kids on board is must even if that increases your travel duration.
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Originally Posted by sunnysideup_ Also, incredible luck with your timing. Had your plans been for a week or two later, the situation would have been completely different. |
Absolutely spot on, just a week later counts shot up and everything was on red alert. Glad you liked reading and I wish you are safe and take care of your family too.
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Originally Posted by Highh5 Benaras is on top of my list as well, and your thread just made my belief stronger about this place. |
Thank you dear for the kind words, please visit when you think its safe to travel.
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Originally Posted by Maddy3008 I was very very fortunate to have lived and studied in Varanasi for four years from 1999-2003. With little or no money, we would often find ourselves walking for miles in the dark of the night to have a cup of tea with friends. A lot has changed in Varanasi I hear, but looking at your pictures, I am glad a lot hasn't |
You were indeed fortunate to have stayed here for 4 years. My first visit was back in 1999 only. I realized that Banaras is still cheap when you consider other popular tourist destinations.
The changes are for good with better roads and cleaner surroundings, more organized than before.
Enjoying Benaras on foot is the best thing I realized, and can think how fortunate you were to have experienced this for 4 years. Thank you for your kind words.
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Originally Posted by C300 Subscribed for future reference. |
Thank you for the complements.
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Originally Posted by TwerkyC0ffee You should've planned and spent a day at Mirzapur. Anyway, save it for your next visit to Varanasi.
Lakhaniya Dhari waterfalls are a sight to behold. |
Seems your last visit must have been in recent times, seeing the mask on your face. Actually we realized that we are short of by at least 2 days for venturing out of Varanasi, to the nearby places like Allahabad or Lucknow, reserved for the next trip. Thanks for this suggestion will keep in mind next time and thanks for the complements.
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Originally Posted by interest Perhaps the beauty of Taj Mahal was more important than health to people as well as authorities.
Apologies for drawing attention away from this otherwise wonderful travelogue. Quite inspiring. |
No offences taken, we are responsible for our actions and while the pictures depict a moment captured, we found mixed bag of people and its not intrinsic to Varanasi, its the same even here in Kolkata around the same time when elections were going on. Yes we did take right precautions for us.
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Originally Posted by sayakc The pictures of the food made me drool and so were the pictures of the lanes and bylanes of Benaras.
Did you change your photography gear this time? Noticed a certain edge this time added to your photos
Were you using a fish eye lens ? Also, any drone ? |
I knew of all the people, you must be appreciating the food trails the most, considering you have a pioneering thread on this forum for Kolkata Food Trail, got inspiration from that. Thanks for the kind words.
The Fish eye and Drone effect is from new addition, a 360 action cam, insta360 one x2. I realized I am no DSLR guy and no time for post processing. Hence this is the best solution for me, of course it has its limitations. Other photos are taken with iPhone and Oneplus of my wife and her friend respectively.
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Originally Posted by AJITHAAA An amazing travelogue if it was a different time |
Thanks, when the travel was made, there were no government alerts and only after we came back things changed. The pictures are just a instant moment, so we should not judge the people based on that. For instance when we sat down to eat somewhere we had to momentarily pull down masks but made sure that social distance protocol can be accommodated. And of course like I said earlier we are all responsible for our own safety but every city has a mix bag of all kinds of people, similar to Flat-earthers.
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Originally Posted by KGS Indeed it is a living town (Zinda seher Banaras). |
I concur with you, it is indeed a very lively place with such helpful and kind people all around who are ready to help. Stay safe in these times, always good to connect with your roots sometimes or the other. Thank you for the wonderful words.