We set off after breakfast to the airport for our flight to Varanasi. Bhagi is very excited about this part of our trip. It is a very spiritual place for Hindus and he clearly loves it.

We got to the airport in plenty of time, carrying only what we needed for the 2 nights in Varanasi. The flight was uneventful. They give you coffee and a sandwich and then have to pack it away really quick as the flight is only just over an hour.

We had a minivan to drive us the 45 minutes into town to our hotel. It is not the

flashest place we’ve stayed in. The lobby is quite grand but the room smelt bad. When I found that Jen and Craig changed theirs for a different one, we did likewise and the replacement was much improved though tolerable at best.

We went into town for a walk around and visit to the holy sites by the River Ganges, leaving at about 3.30pm.

The Ganges is a lot wider than I expected. The water level is quite low at present but you can see the level that it comes to in the monsoon. It is right up to the steps at the foot of the buildings.

Must be a scary sight in full flood.

I found the whole vista a bit depressing. It is very grimy and dirty, as is most of the rest of India, but this is a particularly holy site. I can’t quite rationalise how people can be urinating against a wall at the top of the steps where it is just running down into the river where people are bathing and doing all sorts of religious ceremonies.

The shores are covered in idle boats as the boatmen are on strike against the new, large government sponsored boats that are taking tourists around. I don’t blame them as the new boats look completely incongruous.

We walked along the shore and past the place where open air cremations were taking place. It was a bit surreal really. The men from bereaved families bring the deceased to the edge of the Ganges and following various rituals he or she is placed on a pyre and set alight.

We watched for a few minutes and then continued along the edge of the river, in amongst the people, cows, buffalo, dogs, goats and monkeys. Lots of the kids were flying makeshift kites with some of the dogs doing their best to catch them and rip them to bits (the kites that is, not the kids).

Further along we watched as all the lights came on and there was an eerie quiet over the water.

Then we walked through some of the streets in the old town. In some ways it was scarier as the roads are wider and therefore the traffic seems to go faster.

We all loaded into rickshaws and headed to dinner. That was probably the most hair raising ride so far. Mike and I quite like it but even we were hanging on for dear life. Prasha and Gamini ended up going down the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic in theirs. We took a shortcut through this tiny gap in the median barriers in ours but it was close to an intersection where we got back onto the right side. It is hard to describe the complete chaos of people, cars, rickshaws, bikes, dogs and bicycles. At one stage we were travelling beside this 8 or 9 year old boy on a Raleigh 20 who was actually keeping good pace as he could dive around the pedestrians. He had shopping baskets over his arm. It was pitch black with throngs of traffic and there’s this little kid weaving in and out.

We were deposited outside this former palace that has been converted into a hotel plus a number of restaurants.

We had exceptionally good food at one of them. The selection was enormous but I think we all stuck to Indian food. Less likelihood of getting sick and the flavours are amazing though the quantity means we are all feeling very full all the time. It just makes walking past the beggars and the small kids who’ve been trained to solicit all the more difficult. The women with their semi comatose babies mouthing that they want food are the worst. We are told to ignore them but it is hard and they are persistent. Even if we gave them 2000 Rp ($40) there is no guarantee they’d get to keep any of it and the babies (who all look well nourished if a bit dirty) certainly wouldn’t. To get an idea of relative costs it is significant that the biggest withdrawal from any ATM is 10,000Rp ($200).

The rickshaw ride back to the hotel was uneventful. The biggest issue is actually the air pollution. It is just as bad as in Delhi and almost everyone is suffering. Mike’s congestion is no better and I also have a heavy cold/sinus infection.

It was straight to bed for a relatively short sleep as we were off again at 5.15am to see the dawn prayer ceremonies at the side of the Ganges before breakfast.