• Luis shares a day wise experience of a three day Varanasi trip on a cruise where they sailed on the Ganga and got off the boat to visit places of interest. He also visited Ayodhya and shares interesting titbits on its making. They returned with wonderful memories of a five day trip. What surprised them about Varanasi is interesting?

What a fabulous five days we spent this April in Varanasi. For a long time, we had been planning to visit Varanasi. A few months ago, I received an email which talked about a company called Antara Cruises, which runs cruises on the Ganga and Brahmaputra Rivers. One of the cruises was about exploring Varanasi, whilst staying on a ship that was docked there. We signed up immediately and were pleasantly surprised with the promptness and efficiency of the organisers.

1 MV Bengal Ganga at Varanasi on the Ganga River.

We were surprised again when we landed at the airport to be told that that we were the only passengers for this trip.  They did not cancel our booking, nor ask to reschedule. This was a 20-room ship and we had it all to ourselves!

2 Our spacious cabin, with a great view of the river.

We had a spacious and comfortable room. The ship was made from Burma Teak. The service was fabulous. The team pampered us and we enjoyed having the boat to ourselves. They tried to address any request of ours – whether it related to some extra sailing on the ship (despite the water level in the river being low), yoga early in the morning or anything special we would like to eat. 

3 The Dining Room.

4 The Upper Deck.

A couple of people stood out during our trip. Sandeep, the chef was fabulous with the preparation, the variety and the taste of every meal. Every dish was like a delicious work of art.  Mohit, our young steward from Uttarakhand was the most attentive steward I have come across in my travels across the world.

5 One of our master chef meals.

6 Even our fruit were served as pieces of art.

We reached around lunch time on the first day and spent the day relaxing on the ship. The upper deck was very comfortable, and we enjoyed seeing the sun set over the Ganga.

7 Sunset on the Ganga

Day 2

The next morning, we got on to a smaller boat and visited Ramnagar Fort. This was the palace of the Maharaja of Banaras. The palace is a bit run down but it was interesting to see the old stagecoaches and weapons of the Maharaja. We returned for lunch on the ship and relaxed in the afternoon.

8 Ramnagar Fort

9 One of the small boats that took us around

In the evening, we sailed on the ship towards the ghats, where we were transferred to a small boat. The ship is not allowed to sail past the ghats because of the river traffic there. Our guide, Prem Narayan Singh, showed us the various ghats along the river, right up to the new Namo Ghat. It was truly amazing.

We then got off the boat to experience the Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat. Despite being a bit commercial, the experience was breath-taking – a heady mix of light, sound, action and incense. It was an amazing assault on our senses, and we were glad that we had this first-hand experience. Despite the crowds, there was a lot of order. 

After that, we got back on our boat, and we experienced something fascinating again – rush hour traffic on the Ganga! I have never seen so many boats, packed with people, floating down a river. The boatman kept telling us to keep our hands inside the boat, to prevent getting hurt by a passing boat. After a fab dinner on the ship, we crashed out. 

10 Ganga Aarti

Day 3

The next morning, the ship took us towards the ghats where we got on to a small boat and experienced the ghats in the morning. We got off the boat to visit Kashi Vishwanath temple, but the line (including the VIP LINE) was too long. So, we decided to skip visiting the temple.

11 Ghats of Varanasi

We then went on to visit Sarnath, where Buddha preached for the first time. In contrast to the buzzing and crowded Varanasi, this place was an oasis of calm and greenery. We saw the stupa and the amazingly highly polished Ashoka pillar and capital.  How they built something so huge which remains shiny till now is an acknowledgement of the quality of workmanship of an era gone by.  We then headed back for lunch and rested. 

12 The amazing Ashoka Capital.

In the evening, we did a quick tour of the rest of the ship - the kitchen, engine room, sewage treatment plant, laundry room, etc. We then sailed downstream towards Narayanpur and enjoyed the relaxed river life for couple of hours.  We saw dolphins in the river. Later that evening, we had a session with the entire crew, followed by a delightful entertainment session by some of the crew members.

13 The idylic life of river dwellers outside Varanasi.

14

We left early next morning and wished the team goodbye after a very pleasant stay on the MV Bengal Ganga.

15

Ayodhya

We then drove 4 hours to Ayodhya to visit the Ram Janmabhoomi Temple. Along the way we had to stop for paan at Keshav Tambul Bhandar. 

16 Our Paan stop.

19 Malai Lassi on the way to Ayodhya.

The temple is an amazing illustration of modern-day craftsmanship and construction. Hopefully it will get completed this year. The rest of the temple complex hopefully will be completed by the end of this year. We were fortunate to meet L&T’s Project Director and learn about the enormity of the task to build this huge temple in a short period of time.  The work that goes behind building something to last 1,000 years is something that we experienced for the first time. We also visited the Hanuman Garhi Temple and the Kanak Bhavan Temple before heading back to Varanasi to spend the night at a local hotel.

20 Construction work on temple that we saw during our visit in April 2025.

Return to Varanasi 

The next morning, we left our hotel at 4.30 a.m. to experience the morning Aarti “Subah-e-Banaras” at Assi Ghat.  This was a very inspiring prayer service. We also saw the sun rise over the Ganga. 

17 Subah-e-Banaras at Assi Ghat

We then went on a long walk along the river bank, passing through various ghats. We ended at the Manikarnika Ghat, known for its cremations.

We grabbed some delicious kachori in a small gully, before taking an auto back to our hotel. 

18 Fresh kachoris

We then went sari shopping, where I apparently displayed a high level of patience.  After that we visited the huge BHU Campus and had a lovely chaat lunch. Thereafter, we returned to our hotel. In the evening, we binge watched “Adolescence” on Netflix. 

The next morning, we flew back with some fabulous memories of our short visit to Varanasi and Ayodhya.

What surprised us about Varanasi?

The cleanliness of the ghats and the small alleys leading to them. They were not squeaky clean, but not as bad as we had been warned.

A lot of care has been taken to support tourists. For example, there were floating cabins for women to change.

Namo Ghat was different. It signified modernisation but continued to show the gratitude and reverence for the Ganga River.

Electricity is now available 24*7.

Safety has improved.

NO one hounded us to do pujas and we did not see Naga sadhus in abundance.

Also read/see

1. Ghats of Kashi album

2. Kashi pics in Black and White

3. Why Varanasi is a major pilgrimage destination

4. Story of Tailang Swami a great Swami of Kashi

5. Dev Deepavali Kashi album

6. Wall Paintings Varanasi album

7. Varanasi, Ayodhya, Prayagraj Yatra by Sidd

8. Ramnagar Fort album

9. Sarnath album