It's amazing how quiet the streets were this morning as we left Gorakhpur - we weren't the only ones on the road, but there was none of the mayhem that was present 12 hours earlier. We set off in convoy with another team, the ones who had assisted us with the bump start yesterday and made good time on the road. We stopped for a snack for breakfast, some weird sugary twirly batter which was deep fried but gave us a sugar boost first thing! The morning was pretty straight forward, after leaving the city, though we weren't on major roads. We drove up to the Ganges, further down from Varanasi, before continuing over it, onto a road which on the map was marked in yellow - signifying poorer condition. It was quite a struggle - unable to get out of 2nd gear (meaning a top speed of about 18kpm) for much of the afternoon. At one point, as we traversed this road, full of potholes, more of a dirt track really, the guys we had been driving with somehow managed to take their rickshaw off the side of the road and down a verge about 2m deep, rolling it onto its side in the process. The driver bailed out before it rolled, but fortunately the passenger emerged unscathed, looking very much like Indiana Jones as he stood up through the frame as it was still on its side and put his hat back on! Fortunately, after one bus slowed down to look before continuing on its way, two lorries stopped very soon afterwards and between them and several men out pushing, the rickshaw was soon back up on the road, seemingly none the worse for its tumble. But it really just goes to show that you have to keep your wits about you all the time, you never know what is going to happen next. It was a great relief to get off that track, and onto the main road, though joining it was 'interesting'! Basically, we just drove along the hard shoulder of one carriageway (going the wrong direction) until there was a gap in the central reservation, at which point we crossed the carriageway (obviously avoiding the traffic) and joined the opposite carriageway, in the right direction! Driving here rocks!!! The rest of the drive was fairly uneventful, as we made it to the outskirts of Varanasi, though it did take a while - the guys didn't seem to have any confidence in their navigation at all, despite using a compass as well as the map, and frequently checking a GPS device, so they insisted on stopping every 20km or so to check we were still going the right way, even though we were driving along a completely straight road, with no possible turn offs.... And then, once we had all caught up again, there would be a discussion about whether or not we should stop for a break, or what we would do about food, or... something else. I was getting a little frustrated by the time we made it to our destination; I am just not used to this whole forming a committee every time anything needs to be done, I usually (since generally, it's only me to consider) just get on with things. Actually, at this hotel, the owner appeared not to speak any English. It transpired later that in fact, he just didn't want to speak to women, as he chatted away quite happily, in excellent English, with the guys. His only comment toSharon and me was that, while he had previously thought European women were very good looking, he had now revised this thought, and that Indian women were far more attractive.... It's all in a day's drive!