Varanasi has always been high on my list of places to visit in India. Before coming here I knew that Varanasi was famous for the ghats (steps) that lead to the Ganges river. Varanasi is well known for the funeral pyres where devout Hindu’s consider it good fortune if, God willing, they die here in old age.

What I didn’t know was that Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world. Behind the ghats there is a fascinating old town with a tangle of alleys and laneways. Most of the cities I have been to in India have been gridded out cities with wide streets. Here in the old town there are many little laneways which not even an autorickshaw can fit down (yay!). It is still India though, crowded and chaotic as ever. The traffic is limited to pedestrians, bikes and…cows. Being the holy creatures that they are, cows are free to roam in India where ever they please. And with Varanasi being the one of the most sacred of Hindu locations, there are more urban cows here than I have seen anywhere else.

It was down one of these lanes that I found my coffee of the day. This particular cafe use stove top espresso machines as their coffee makers. I usually make my coffee at home like this (when I have a home) so it was like having a home made coffee. I caught this curious cow wandering by while waiting for my brew.