Today was our final day in the magical city of Varanasi.... Out of all the cities I have enjoyed this one the most. I love being near the water and the place has everything... spirituality, sun, water and shopping!! We woke early at four forty five to ensure we were ready to leave at five thirty in reception, as today was the dawn boat ride... but turned out that the reception hadn't done the wake up calls so no one was up!! Me and Abhi were first in reception ...

Today was such a good day... We had been on the evening boat ride down the Ganges yesterday at dusk and that was such an amazing experience. We had spent so long in dry and dusty cities that it was refreshing to see some water and to be near it. The Ganges are by no means the sort of water you would fancy taking a dip in but is an truly spiritual place to visit. We had floated along the river past cremations and various ceremonies and stopped up near the Dasas...

I awoke on my train bunk to the sounds of flatulence, grunting and a Nokia ring tone from the person below which had now started to get on my nerves. There was a bit of light from the window which suggested it must have been approximately 6am. Considering the lack of sleep I had managed to get I felt quite refreshed but no one else had stirred. The gentleman underneath me had got off the train but this clearly hadn't aided my sleep so I put on the iPod and went t...