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 at five fifteen (we use the iPad as an alarm) and so went round and knocked on everyone's door... Fifteen minutes later and with torches in hand we were ready to go. We headed back down to the river via the quiet cool back streets, illuminating the road with a torch or two.

Once we were at the river we headed into the boat one by one and took a pew, before being rowed out into the river. It was still dark when we set off and there was a crisp chill in the air which was so refreshing. We rowed past the small cremation ghat which we had seen yesterday and it was all peaceful and quiet, as was most of the river... The only activity being a few locals having a wash in the water and praying. This is known as puja and literally means respect or offering prayers. As we progressed further down the river the light began to illuminate the ghats and more people were emerging from their beds. There were men meditating and women washing as well as plenty of boats filled with eager tourists snapping the scene.

We went further down the river today, past the ceremonial ghat and past the main cremation ghat where we slowed down to witness the service. It has quite a peaceful air about it and all you can see is the flickers of the flames and the men praying close by.... Women aren't allowed to the cremations as they are too emotional and the wailing restricts the soul leaving for heaven.

After a short period we turned around and headed back down the river, this was a bit more difficult for our poor rower who was now rowing against the current... So we cheered him on quietly! By now the sun was fast rising and spreading a warming glow throughout the ghats.... Truly stunning! Such a spiritual and peaceful sight and we enjoyed it so much.... Until the "river supermarket" came floating by to sell us souvenirs! This was ruining my spiritual moment and I soon told him so... As he rowed off empty handed we all went back to our moment of calm. We rowed back up to the side and disembarked before stopping on the South Indian ghat and taking a final few photos of the most stunning sunrise I have seen in a long time.

It was now about seven thirty and we were all famished and cold so headed to the bakery for breakfast. Today all of us ordered American pancakes and we shared a pot of earl grey tea...mmmm!! Steven then proceeded to book our hotel in southern india and sort the trains out... While I uploaded a weeks worth of blogs.

After breakfast we had a final hour or so to look around the shops and get any last souvenirs (this was the last day of the trip for half of our group. Only seven of us heading south). We then had to say good bye to magical Varanasi and pack our bags. The bus came at eleven thirty to take us all to the airport for our flight to Delhi and Bon voyage! At the airport we went through numerous security checks ....had various tickets stamped and checked and body parts poked and prodded before we boarded our spice jet flight to Delhi. We were both impressed by the airline and enjoyed the hour flight... Didn't so much enjoy the hour bus ride back to the hotel though through Delhi rush hour or saying bye to Darcey who was heading back to the USA that evening. However Abhi gave us one last Hindi story on the way home...

We eventually arrived back where it all began, the Sisley boutique and checked into our rooms. We were happy as our room was nicer than the last one and we know the hotel and area well ....Plus we had wifi back. We went for dinner and then headed back to the hotel to FaceTime the rents... This of course didn't go to plan but we did speak a bit on Skype... But couldn't see each other. Later Finbar popped in to invite us for a final night of rums and Bollywood music and we obliged despite it being eleven thirty and both of us being shattered. I took the iPad and did mange to face time my mum briefly as the Internet was better on the third floor although it didn't last long. By midnight we were pooped and headed back to our room... Had a shower and packed our bags ready for our early flight tomorrow.