Rashmi Guest House – Varanasi India

When planning for our adventures we take a lot of time researching to find the best possible place to stay at each destination. One of the most unique places we ever found was called Rashmi Guest House in Varanasi, India. As I have mentioned in other posts Varanasi is like no place on earth. There are hundreds of temples (Ghats), guesthouses, shrines, etc that line the ancient Ganges river. The Rashmi guesthouse was a small but beautiful building that was right on the shores of the river. There were about 3 floors of rooms and then a small restaurant on the top floor with outdoor seating that looked over the city. Lindsay and I ate every breakfast and almost every dinner at this small restaurant. The server eventually just got to the point where he would smile every time he saw us coming up the stairs. We would always pick the corner table on the balcony and would watch all the happenings going on in the city below us. Our room at this guesthouse was also incredible. It faced east and we had a perfect view of the Ganges river and the rising sun. There was a very large tree (which are rare in the heart of Varanasi) and small Hindu temple just outside the entrance and I loved walking past them every time we entered. I remember vividly coming into the room after a hot, and exhausting, day exploring Varanasi and slamming the Coke in a bottle that they would place in the room. We also had a very funny experience the first time we entered the room. We had literally just taken our backpacks off when we heard knocking on the windows. We were very confused as we were about 3 floors up and it would be impossible for a human to do this. We pulled back the drapes with caution and were shocked by what we saw…an entire group of Monkeys were jumping from the building across the alley onto our window ledge and would knock on the window. When they saw us they would hiss and show their teeth and jump back across the alley. We spent a few minutes in shock watching these monkeys. The location, rooftop restaurant/balcony, helpful people and of course the monkeys make this a guesthouse we will never forget but will always suggest.




This is the view out our window...the sun rising over the Ganges river.