We had time to waste after Agra so we took a 15hr train to the holy city of Varanasi. It sits on the banks of the Ganges and is the place where Hindus burn the bodies on the side of the river and throw the ashes into the water. They also bathe in it, wash clothes in it and drink it...nice. They bathe in it to wash away their sins, as Layne and i dont have any sins we didnt jump in! We went on a boat trip down the river and saw them burning the bodies close up...it doesnt smell bad really which is surprising, but is weird to see...especially when bits of the bodies fall off and are just popped back onto the pyre. The Ghats are steps leading down to the water and every day 100s of people get naked and jump into the water....we had to avert our eyes many times but everyone seems relaxed with the nudity. Men are employed to dredge the water around the burning Ghats to look for the jewelry and gold fillings of the dead so they are literally up to their arses in people ash, lovely. The streets of the city are very narrow and windey but that doesnt stop crazy moterbikes running us over every 2 mins. We did some shopping and tried to relax but the place is too full of smelly dreadlocked hippies trying to find spiritual enlightenmant and as Layne and I are already enlightened we were just annoyed by people who just wanted to 'feel the music man'. We also got pestered to buy hashish all the time, Layne obviously looks like a druggie. I got pestered by little girls trying to sell me candles and going 'please madam, madam please' over and over, its sooooo annoying, especially as Layne now does it to wind me up. Came back to delhi and have stayed in our hotel room for 3 days waiting for the plane outa here to Thailand.............14hrs left and counting.

bx