It was good to get out of the big city of Delhi, it felt a bit tourist driven in parts, with the trips and the rickshaws etc, plus I was just waiting for the next person to try to rip us off. Varanasi was going to be real India and that it was. In Lonely Planet, Varanasi is described as "the most blindly colourful, unrelentingly chaotic and unapologetically indiscreet places on earth. A place that takes no prisoners but if you're ready for it, it may just turn out to be your favourite stop of all". To have that as our introduction, we didn't really know what things we were going to encounter over the next few days.

On the journey to the our new hotel, I think we was all pretty speechless, just trying to take everything in that we saw and not knowing where to look next. The journey itself taught us something; rubbish everywhere, children roaming, poverty on the streets, beggars raising their hands, cows and goats blocking the road. I now know why people could never really explain India to me when I've asked about their time there. I think it can only be experienced, words don't do it justice but I don't mean that in a bad way, it's an absolutely incredible place and I can't wait to see what the different parts of the country has to show us. The one memory that stuck in my mind from that car journey was watching a young boy, maybe about 7, just pull his pants down and have a poo right on the street, in front of anyone and everyone. Now that's free living as its maximum!! The taxi driver pulled up on the side of the street and introduced us to our hotel owner, Mr Ali Baba, he walked us through the back streets and alleyways of the old city of Varanasi. There was an unreal amount of flies and the stench was battling between urine, poo or the smell of a passing cow, goat, monkey or stray dog. I was so tired from the train, and my brain was in a bit of a delusional state. When we had broken our way through, what seemed to be miles of alleyways, we walked through a silk shop to find Ali Baba's hotel. It was really bright and clean, which seemed completely out of place to what we had just walked through, the rooms were white and minimalist too, the hotel hadn't been open longer then 2 months but still, very out of place. It was coming up to 2pm and yesterdays Thali was the last thing we ate so we asked for a restaurant recommendation from the hotel and so headed to "Spicy Bites" for lunch. I had a vegetable curry with garlic naan bread and the girls had the same but with different flavoured curries. There was a little jewellery shop opposite so while we waited for our food to come, I had a quick peak and found a gorgeous ring with a turquoise stone in it. For only 200 rupees (approx £2.40), I couldn't resist getting myself a new Varanasi ring. After lunch, we found a little shop that did henna designs, so we all got a different pattern on one of our hands, we felt very Indian with those and our stick on bindi's!! We then went in search of the spiritualistic River Ganges and the Ghats; which are the long stretch of steps leading down to the water. Varanasi is documented as one of the oldest inhabited cities and is regarded as one of the Hinduism's seven holy cities. Pilgrims come to the Ghats lining the River Ganges to wash away a lifetime of sins in the sacred waters or to cremate their loved ones. Which is why its known as the beating heart of the Hindu universe. We always knew it was going to be a different mixed emotions experience going to see what happens there and it's difficult to describe how I did feel. The first Ghat we visited was called, Harishchandra Ghat, there were two cremations currently in progress, we sat a distance away and just watched in silence. It was a very strange atmosphere, lots of people around watching this 'normal' affair. The local women had stepped away from the flames, while the men circled the burning body and sprinkled bits on the fire, which we later found out was sandalwood and spices. Their understanding is that by burning the bodies, they're separating the dead back into the five elements; air, earth, fire, water and aether. After bodies have been burnt their ashes are put in the River Ganges to complete the cycle. Which, when I thought about it, was actually quite a nice way to go? Our hotel man had explained the different processes to us; if the bodies had lived a full life (70 years +) then people celebrated their lives at the cremations. If people from a early life age died (19-50 years old) then it's a sad occasion because they hadn't lived their life to their full age and that's the same for the deceased involved in accidents or suicides. The five types of people who can't be burnt at the Ghats are children, pregnant women, leprosy or small pox sufferers and holy men. In those cases they're taken out on boats and sunk to the bottom of the river. The idea is to keep the Ganges pure and a spiritual place but the part I couldn't get my head around is that people also bath in the Ganges, along with the cows, buffaloes and dogs. After a while, we thought it was time to leave and so we again wondered the back alleys of the shanti town, stopping off at silk shops and taking photos of the startling sites around. Each day at 7pm, there is an elaborate ceremony that takes place on the Dasaswamedh Ghat called Ganga Aarti, involving puja, fire and dance. We found a seat on the steps and watched the traditional ceremony, there were 100's of people there so taking a clear shot wasn't the easiest but it was nice to see people chanting, singing and praying. As bad as it sounds, it got a bit repetitive after a while so we decided to leave early and happened to stumble across a night market which was quite overwhelming with locals shouting out for business. Either heckling at us, tapping us or shoving random bits in our faces as we tried to walk down the slim pathways; and we thought the annoying men on the riverside, asking if we want a boat trip were bad!! Not much was bought but they did have cool stuff on sale. Maybe we were to tired from the train journey, our beds were calling but we had to sneak in a little dinner first. We was only meant to go for a cup of Chai tea; which we have already become addicted with! But we ended up with a proper meal because the menu looked so good. Oops, thanks Joypti Cafe, tasty falafel. Then time for bed bed bed!!!

The next morning was a fresh start, a day holding big potential for exploring. We started off with a wonder along the river; now you may be picturing a nice peaceful stroll by the water but scrap that thought, it was very different to that. I felt the same atmosphere as I did the day before, not knowing how to feel about the riverbed lined with dead bodies and remnants of ashes left at the waters edge. Having that mixed in with listening to persistent men trying to sell boat trips, seeing beggars struggling on the pathways and trying to dodge the cows, bulls and buffaloes walking, not to mention poo-ing around us (there is a constant need to watch where you're walking, to hop over the cow pat). We came to a Ghat named, Manikarnika Ghat, it's known to cremate around 250 bodies a day over the 24 hour period. As we started to approach the Ghat, we were warned by a beggar not to take any photos because of the spiritual significance and the locals find it very offence. Apparently there had been a fight between locals and a Japanese family, just the day before because they hadn't respected their wishes. Ekk, cameras in bumbags. Looking around, there were stacks and stacks of chopped up wood waiting to used, it really made me realise, just how many bodies were there on a daily basis. We all felt a bit dejected from standing and watching for too long so we decided to lift the mood with some food. We walked in search of the 'German Brown Bread Bakery', the lonely planet guide raves about the quality of food and their organic produce so we wanted to try it out. Along the way, Kate tried the first Varanasi street food, there were different stalls on every corner but this one was a thick dosa, like a savoury pancake with tomato and onion (later described to me as an Indian pizza). We made it to the bakery, it was a rooftop restaurant, quite cool to see the city from a peak, including watching the monkeys playing on the building edges; shame we wasn't as impressed by the food. We decided to give the market a second attempt and ended up spending many hours walking around the alleyways. Everywhere we turned there was another little shop or someone's cubby house or a temple shrine indented into the street walls. There was always so much to look at, so much to take in, alot for our brains to process at once. I feel like I haven't mentioned the faeces situation as much as I should, it's pretty much everywhere, we felt like we were in British medieval times, with it flowing down the street. Whether it be animal or human! We did actually get to a point of guessing which was which, as rank as it sounds haha! Adding all that in with the loud noises, the beeping from motorbikes and hearing holy men singing - it's quite an atmospheric place, and as much as that's probably made you screw your nose up, it was a brilliant atmosphere to be in. There's something very enlightening about walking around the streets of Varanasi and its almost impossible to not have a smile on your face. We spent the rest of the afternoon in a silk sari shop, shopping for our wedding outfits. Don't worry, I haven't found myself an Indian husband just yet but we have been invited to attend a friend of my sisters wedding in Hyderabad on the 11th May (happens to be my birthday too!) so we all have to be kitted out. I couldn't be bothered to look for ages because I had a head cold and felt to rank to play dress up but once Kate and Nelen had found theres (well Nelen bought two options), it was now my turn. I won't give any clues but hopefully it looks okay, look out for photos mid may. Liv had looked at the same material options for far to long and needed a break and a fresh shop to look through so we moved places and she found the perfect one in the end! All shopped out, we went for dinner in an amazing roadside Indian restaurant, served the best samosas that were fried in giant woks on the edge of the street with our meals dished into metal trays. In and out service. Loved it. I got my eyebrows threaded on the way home, I've never done it before so I was pretty scared about trusting my eyebrows in someone else hands but they turned out good, very happy with them. Not bad for 60p!! Early night back at the hotel, which then meant we managed to squeeze in a Skype session with our long lost fifth girl to the gang, Christa, who is still holding herself hostage on Koh Tao before she has to return to Canada to end her two year long trip.

My unwelcome 4.30am alarm woke Liv up, who then had to wake me up to tell me to turn it off but sadly all I could do was snooze it because we had to get up for the sunrise trip on The Ganges that morning. We made our way down to the river by 5.20am just in time to see the sun rise but the problem was, sadly there was no sun to be seen. It was rainy, cold and cloudy, a rare sight to see in Varanasi this time of year. I tried to pretend that I wasn't just about to step onto yet another boat in Asia, although this time, there was another threat added, the water wasn't going to be the cleanest; think what is in there. I don't know what is worse, the shark infested water of Koh Phi Phi in Thailand or the dead ridden water of The Ganges. Well the first thing we saw when we got on the boat was a dead floating goat next to us, hmm. It set the standard for the rest of the journey, ever time we saw something bobbing, we wondered if it was a rising body. It was amazing to see just how many people bathed in the water at sunrise, clusters of people all along the river edge. I did notice that it was predominantly men though so maybe it's not something women are allowed to be involved in. Men do have very strange open friendships with other men in India, they will walk down the street holding hands, or stand with one arm around one another and generally act quite close. At first we wasn't sure if it was their sexuality but it seems the men are just real friendly. Would you think it was strange if men at home were like that? Back on the boat, we were still shivering in the cold and basically had enough of watching a captain row his way down the river, it wasn't really worth getting up early for. So yes, you guessed it, we went back to sleep for a few hours afterwards. Liv and I woke up and wanted to head for a walk but the other two were still in sleep mode so we went for a pre breakfast nibble. It was still raining so we had to sludge our way down the streets, wearing our flip flops, trailing through the mush of rubbish, mud and animal excrement - you can imagine the colour of our feet and the toe jam it created. Liv fancied Dosa and I'd never had one, they're like super thin crepes with a choice of filling. I went for the safe option of masala dosa but Liv went for the chocolate and banana option which went a bit wrong, we think the chef man got a little bit confused with the order because she ended up with banana and chopped onion. Tasted odd but fair play she ate it! We were leaving for Delhi that night so we had to check out the rooms. Time to wake up the lazy beans and put the bags in reception. The girls wanted their breakfast next so we went on a street food rampage and tried anything that looked tasty, samosas, Indian deserts, dosas, more samosas (literally the best I've ever had) and potato with spicy chickpeas. Wow, our Indian pop bellies were coming along nicely. The food in this country is literally unbelievable, not to mention that the majority of food is vegetarian. Heaven! Although I'm starting to worry myself on the dairy front, I seem to be turning myself off meals that contain milk, cheese and eggs. Maybe it's because I've constantly been around cows and buffaloes since I arrived in India but blerghhh!! After a long walk down the riverbank, we reached the final Ghat called Assi Ghat, which is another busy ghat but also because this is where the Ganges meets the Assi River, off course we tested out some more street food. When we was walking around the busy streets, we came across people queuing to enter the Golden temple, its a Hindu temple that was highly guarded by armed police, apparently it's currently known as a terrorist point of interest so they insist on people going through metal detectors and getting thoroughly searched. Weird to see such a crowd of people, queuing bear foot for their temple that was on watch by people with guns. It was time to go back to the hotel to get ready for our 6.30pm train, we didn't have a room to shower in so the best we could do was wash the streets of our feet in the bathroom. We were running a little late at this point because our hotel man didn't call us a taxi, even though we asked him to so we had to rush our way to the main road and jump in a tuk tuk. Our first tuk tuk journey in India and it was a real experience, it was dark outside, horns beeping, no road lines so anything on wheels was weaving in and out of each other. We embraced the moment and got involved, Kate was in charge of the horn and we was in the back singing along with the Indian music that was being blared out of the tuk tuks makeshift speakers. We've recently been making a video diary of our time in India so this was a perfect time to film one. I'll send you the URL details once they've been uploaded. Our next train journey wasn't as bad as we expected, we were in the sleeper carriage which meant an open carriage with make shift beds but it wasn't so bad. After the normal card games, food and chit chatter, we headed to sleep. The train was only 30 minutes late this time. Bonus! Back in Delhi for a 10 hour stopover until we head on our next 18 hour train to Arabian nights, sand city of Jaisalmer.