Hello and welcome to our blog!

I know you all have been waiting day and night, since we left, for our first post and therefore apologise for the delay. We had intended to begin this blog sooner but a combination of lack of time online and power cuts halfway through typing have prevented us.

We have been in Varanasi for two days now, our first destination after Delhi. Delhi was manic and crazy. As one man said to us "we have three things in Delhi...Population, polution, and corruption" and to be honest he wasn't far wrong. The polution turned your nose black, the population makes London seem spacious (When I picture London now it has tumbleweeds blowing through). The traffic is crazy with people driving anywhere in every direction, with horns blazing constantly as they go. as a pedestrian you listen to the beeps and prepare to dive for cover. As far as corruption goes we have only seen this in the form of touts and scammers, most just trying to make a quick couple of rupees from you, and are harmless if you keep your head about you. It was certainly a culture shock arriving though and it takes a little while to find your feet here.

It was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of Delhi after a couple of nights and head to the beauty of the Ganges and one of the holiest cities in India - Varanasi. It is incredibly beautiful here, and though it still has much of the mania, it also has another calmer side along the ghats that line the Ganges. Indian people come here from all over the country to bath in the ganges, and many also come here to die as they believe it alows them out of the otherwise continous cycle of reincarnation, and directly into heaven. At one of the ghats on the river you can see these people's bodies burning, after which there ashes are thrown into the river. The ghat is burning constantly and the locals tell us that up to 300 people will be burned here a day, everyday! It is a powerful thing to witness.

Further on down the river the sky is full of small brightly coloured kites, each manned by an excited and highly competative child. When any of these piolets are asked they will tell you confidently that they are the best kite flyer in India and not to listen to the others who tell you that they deserve the title. From our hotel room, which looks out onto the river, you can watch these kites dancing over the Ganges, as the boys try to cut the strings of their opponent's kites and then run to catch them as they fall to the ground. Fern inadvertantly got caught in one of these scrums, unaware that a cut kite was coming into land on her head. After one boy grabbed the kite another turned to Fern and asked "Why...Why didn't you catch it!" At night the river is just as busy. People light candles which they float down the river in little boats made from dried leaves and flower petals. You can see hundreds of these small moving lights from the roof of our hotel. Power cuts are constant here, however most places have generators for essentials such as lights, not showers though. The locals dont let this ruin there fun though. Earlier we witnessed, on a nearbye roof, a wedding party that continued there festivities by candle light (there was a large cheer when power was eventually restored however).

Cows wonder the small back streets and alleys here as if they are boss. They are Holy creatures in India and so many feel they can do as they please. We saw one sit in the middle of the road and rather than move him, the traffic just went round him. Cow pats also present problems to travelers in sandals, though me and fern have avoided this trap till now. The people here are again constantly after your money, it is clear that as tourists we look like not much more than large flashing pound signs, but we can't blame them. When you walk along the ghats you can be sure to here about three phrases non-stop. "Hello sir, do you want boat?" or "Hello sir, do you want to see my silk factory" and "Hello madam very nice price". Once they have assertained that we are English we get the standard "Ah Lovely Jubbly" "Sound as a pound" "Fish and Chips" etc...

Tomorrow we get our second night train, this time to Agra and India's most famous monument the Taj Mahal.

Alex and Fern.