We woke around 5.30am in order to make it down to Assi Ghat in time for sunrise. Our boat, and a little lad named Raj, was waiting to take us out on the Ganges River. Unfortunately due to all the smog that was now in Varanasi following Diwali, we couldn't see the sun until it was quite some way into the sky, but it was still beautiful with multiple shades of pink and orange. We checked out of our hotel at 12 midday but had an 11 hour wait then until our night t...

Following a fairly decent nights sleep, I woke for some reason still feeling very tired. Poor Matthew however did not have such a great night. He was feeling really run down and dehydrated. We haven't really been eating an awful lot since being here as it's very hot and remembering to drink more is something neither of us are very good at. At breakfast, the hotel owner Dina handed us the menus containing a range of lovely breakfast choices. On requesting two ho...

We woke to the sounds of loud voices and slamming doors... all at 4am! Indian families were gathering in their hundreds for the end of Chhath Puja, a four day worship to the Lord Surya. During this time, mainly women fast for the well being of their sons and happiness of their family. The fourth and final day (today), is know as the Usha Arghya- this is where an offering is given to the Sun God, families sit by the river Ganges and sing worship at sunrise. Then, ...

Our night on the sleeper train was not quite as bad as I expected. It wasn't necessarily comfortable but I did sleep for most the night. I did wake in a panic a couple of times to check my bag was ok but we had no problems. Everyone in our carriage seemed lovely and actually I really enjoyed the experience. Apart from the toilets (which is to be expected), the train was very clean and comfortable even in 3rd class. The only toilets available in the train were squ...

Another very interesting but good breakfast of some sort of naan style omelette at the hotel, all washed down with our beloved Chai, I'm becoming obsessed! We said our goodbyes to everyone we had met at the hotel and we're hoping to see a few of them again in Varanasi if they managed to book overnight trains for tonight. As it's peak season for tourism at the moment, everyone we have spoken to is finding it very difficult to book transport around India as it get...