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3 nights in Varanasi and one on the way

It took us a while to get out of Agra due to a combination of low bridges and road closures, and then we had further delays at lunchtime but we were kept entertained by a huge crowd that milled around the truck. Honestly haven't these people got anything better to do? They were quite polite though and spoke English well. We also had another stop outside town to replace a flat tyre. All this meant that we didn't get to our intended destination - the temples at Khajuraho that have Kama-Sutra-ish carvings. Instead we camped for the night off the main road in a sand quarry. Fortunately it was out of sight of the road so we didn't draw a crowd, but it was baking hot and not a pleasant night.

The plan the following day was to leg it along the highway to Varanasi. Unfortunately, the dual carriage highway was only built from Agra for a little way, then we were forced to take other roads, going right through Allahabad and bumpy highways, only getting into Varanasi at about 8pm. We are getting a bit fed up with stopping in s***ty little towns that all look the same, facing staring populace while they watch us find samosas for lunch and if the town has any bottled water. In Varanasi the police turned us back down one road, then we ran into a traffic jam of trucks that aren't allowed to drive into the city streets until after 10pm apparently. Eventually we made it into the cantonment area and to the Suriya Hotel (almost getting stuck under a railway bridge in the process) and into an airconditioned room by 11.

The days in Varanasi most people just really didn't feel like doing a lot. Everyone is sick of the heat and are just a bit fed up with India. Most of the group ate either McDonalds or Pizza Hut while we were there. I did convince Shane that we needed to go to the Ganges for the evening ceremonies, and we were really glad we went in the end. The autorickshaw dropped us a fair way from the river so we walked for about 10 mins through packed streets to get to it., but once we were there we lit candles on little boats of flowers and floated them on the river, then watched the puja ceremonies at Dashashwamedh Ghat, which consisted of several priests waving incense, burning torches and other paraphenalia around in the air while bells were rung furiously. It went on for about an hour and we had a great view from a balcony behind the ghat. It was a strange peaceful experience after the hustle and bustle of the streets of the city. Our rickshaw driver came to find us on our way back which was great because we probably would have been really lost otherwise.

The next morning we were taken in a bus to the river at the southern end of the ghats, loaded into a boat and rowed along the river just after dawn. It was a nice time of day to be out and about - not too hot yet and not too crowded. There were quite a few people bathing in the river when we got down there and more by the time we got back. We saw the cremation ghats as well - there were a few cremations going on but you can't really see a lot from the river. Our guide Mr Tripati told us at great length about the procedures involved and also at some length about the Hindu faith, and that there was only one god no matter what religion you are, and that om is the name of god and it has three parts but there is only one god etc etc. It was interesting but rather... lengthy :) The river didn't look as bad as I was expecting.. It looked like any other river we have seen in India. I still wouldn't want to go swimming in it. When we were about to get out of our boat, a dead body was seen being pushed out into the middle of the current to be carried away downstream. Small children and sadhus are not cremated, but given to the river like this. Nearby there were a bunch of kids swimming.

The rest of the time in Varanasi we did absolutely nothing, which was exactly what we wanted to do.