Benaras | A city older than what I imagined | Part 1

Hey folks,

It's been a month since my first backpacking trip, and I now found the time to pen down my experience and share my stories. I hope I'm good enough in making you read this post till the end. :) 

Travelling has always done good to me, physically and mentally. Rejuvenated me every time and gave me a lot of memories to cherish. I am someone who could very easily relate to the below quote.

"Once the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life"

2013 saw me travel quite extensively, across different states in India, for several reasons, on several occasions, and boy, I was glad. 2014 however wasn't fulfilling my wanderlust. I started working in an IT MNC at the start of the year, and haven't had a vacation. My soul carved to get out of my routine and travel to a new place before the end of the year. Like most other outsourced white-collared employees of India, the only time I could ask for a vacation would be for Christmas and New year. I made sure I asked for a week's leave during the period, even before finalizing the itinerary. Even after ensuring my leave has been confirmed, I wasn't in any hurry to look forward to a place to visit. Maybe I wanted a surprise element this time. All my previous travels were more planned package tours with little flexibility. Maybe I was actually looking forward to a different experience altogether. Or, maybe it was the movies that I have watched off late which have inspired me to try something new.

A Map for Saturday (2007) - a beautiful documentary showcasing the life of backpackers around the world and the amazing experiences it offers, was one of the most influencing movie I have watched recently. I was thrilled on the experience of traveling with strangers, whom you haven't met before and whom you may not be able meet again, sharing the friendly bond for the short span of time which you stay together. Being an introvert, this was certainly one of the things that I have always wanted to do. Make friends with strangers, have a meaningful conversation with someone from a different ethnicity, culture and lifestyle. Another film which would be worth mentioning here is Queen (2014) - an Bollywood film which to an extent, showcased the backpacking lifestyle to Indian audience, which we weren't aware of before. I never knew amazing places like Backpacker hostels existed. Only later I got to know, they did exist in India as well. 

"Backpacker hostels in India". I was goggling this query, without any ray of hope, that I would find one such true hostel in India. Not only was I surprised that there were hostel here, there were hostel chains across the country too. That was one such moment which made me grin like never before. Zostel was the hostel chain which was across various cities and appeared much better online. They were located in North-Indian cities which are most frequented by international backpackers, like Jaipur, Delhi, Agra, Udaipur, etc. I have already been to all these cities earlier, and wasn't really too interested travelling again to the same place either. Especially, when there were places where I haven't been before. 

One place which stuck my eye was Varanasi, Aka Benaras and Kashi, a city which is said to be one of the oldest continuously inhabited place on the planet. Said to be one of the holiest places for Hindu's and Buddhists alike, this city had a mystical charm which caught the attention. One further surfing the website of Zostel, I managed to get a peek at the hostel rates, which were incredibly inexpensive for the services offered. 4 sharing Air-conditioned rooms, with hot showers and Wifi were charged at ₹ 400 a night. If this wasn't enough, the below pop-up on the bookings page gave me goosebumps. 

Guests from Afghanistan! I was still further surprised this place actually has international travelling from all across. Now, the only thing that I need was a little push to go ahead. Thanks to my colleague and dear friend Gautam for that. With my train tickets booked and a bed at Zostel reserved for me, I couldn't be more glad dropping an Out-of-Office mail to all my colleagues. 

29th of Decemeber

I boarded the train which headed for Varanasi. In the company of several cups of tea and a book to compliment the journey - Shantaram, my first solo backpacking trip had begun. 

Find the next part here.