From Wedding Vibes to Adventure Rides — Varanasi & Prayagraj

The journey

This time, the plan wasn’t a typical trip; it all began because Seth ji (Ankit Kumar Singh) invited us to his sister’s wedding. And honestly, what better excuse to convert a wedding into a perfect travel plan?

I took a flight from Hyderabad to Varanasi and landed in the afternoon. Initially, my plan was simple: go straight to Seth ji’s house.

But meanwhile, a parallel plan was cooking between Suraj, Chetan, and Abhishek; they decided to stay a day in Banaras first and visit Seth ji’s village the next day. And they were planning to stay at Abhishek’s uncle’s house.

I asked if I could join, and thankfully, they agreed.

So I directly booked an Uber from the airport to his uncle’s home, and wow, the welcome was amazing. The house was cosy, comfortable, and the uncle and nani treated us exactly like family.

After lunch and playing with their small kid, we stepped out for the real Banaras experience.

Our first stop was Assi Ghat, from where we took a scenic boat ride all the way to Namo Ghat.

And then came the highlight, the mesmerising Ganga Aarti.

No matter how many times you see it, the vibe of Banaras always hits different.

After the aarti, we decided to explore the local food scene:

Bought a fridge magnet (mandatory) Tried pani puri Went to the super-hyped Kashi Chat Bhandar for tamatar chaat, honestly, too much bheed, and the taste was just ok ok. Faced a major issue, everyone wanted cash, and we were totally dependent on UPI 😅, still managed. Then we saw an uncle selling doodh, and it was amazing.

Next mission: Malaiyo

But before that, we noticed Kashi Vishwanath Mandir had comparatively less crowd around 9 PM.

So we quickly went for darshan, smooth and peaceful.

Then finally… Malaiyo.

After that, we went to Lakshmi Chai Wala for:

Malai toast Butter toast And of course, chai By now, our stomachs were full. Still, we tried some more local chaat and another round of pani puri (again, not so great 😅).

We ended the night with Banarasi paan after purchasing Banarasi saree.

Actually… two paans, because one is never enough.

The next morning, uncle and aunty made chai and toast for us.

But they didn’t let us leave without proper food, so we enjoyed delicious palak paneer and puri before starting.

We reached Seth ji’s home just in time, and surprisingly, Seth ji was all ready for Roka 😄

Afternoon: Roka ceremony for Seth ji Evening: Mehndi, sangeet, masti Ended the day with the best paan of Banaras, and that too for just ₹6! The next day, we travelled to Prayagraj in a bus with the rest of the family, full of masti, jokes, and fun throughout.

At night, we enjoyed the amazing feast and the beautiful wedding ceremony.

The next morning me, Suraj, Chetan, and Abhishek decided to explore Prayagraj before leaving.

We took a ₹600 room just to keep our luggage.

The room had one small bed, and the four of us somehow slept for 4 hours on it 😆

Then we set out: Sangam Visit

We took a dip in the Triveni Sangam, had snacks, and visited: Lete Hue Hanuman Ji temple and had Mahaprasad.

After that, we decided to go back to our hotel… but nobody remembered the name or location of the hotel 😂

Major panic.

Then Abhishek remembered, “We paid via UPI!”

Chetan checked payment history → got the contact number → got the address.

Life saver moment.

We reached the hotel, had dinner on the way, packed up, and headed to Prayagraj Junction.

I took a train back to Banaras. (Yes, I even tried booking tatkal from Prayagraj → Bokaro, but couldn't, so again booked a train to Banaras as I already had a Vande Bharat ticket for the next day.)

Next morning:

Checked out from hotel Went to Varanasi Junction Spent some time in the lounge Took Vande Bharat to Bokaro, and the trip officially ended.