As being woefully misinformed seems to be traditional in India, when we were told that to get to Assi Ghat on the banks of the Ganges was a five/ten minute walk, we weren't altogether surprised to arrive there forty minutes later, covered in perspiration. If you were wondering, a ghat is a series of steps leading down to a waters' edge and Varanasi has hundreds of them all of which offer their own quirks and idiosyncrasies.

Assi Ghat is the first of a long succession of ghats in Varanasi that attract pilgrims from all over the world. Assi Ghat is the most famous (though by no means the prettiest) and has an unclean looking clay and sand beach with a distinctively 'dirty' atmosphere, not to mention the numerous dead animals that were there.

Feeling slightly perturbed by the appearance of the place we quickened our pace to investigate the other ghats further along the river bank which were stretching into the distance as far as the eye could see.

One ghat of sensational interest was the Harishchandra Ghat where Hindu cremation ceremonies or 'Antyesti' (meaning 'Last Sacrifice') took place everyday. There we met Delvi, the son of the ghat's owner and he very kindly took the time to sit with us and explain what we were witnessing.

Antyesti, he explained, is incredibly important in Hindu culture as it is where the 'atman' (the body's soul or 'spark' as he called it) is released from the body so that it can continue its journey. The entire procession is lead by 'Karta', the oldest son of the deceased's family. He must shave his head, moustache, beard and under his arms, this hair is later added to the pyre as a token of his devotion to the dead.

He went on to explain that the colour of cloth the dead are wrapped in is significant to their status: white cloth is for a man or widow; red is for a married woman; gold is for a young adult; and orange is for an elder. Under the wrappings the body's thumbs and big toes are tied together in order to keep the limbs in their place, whilst a 'Tilak' marking is drawn on the forehead using a paste or power which brings luck for the journey to the the next life.

Before the body is burnt it is carried on a bamboo stretcher by four family member (including Karta) and bathed in the River Ganges, as is tradition. Here the river's water is placed in the mouth of the deceased as a ceremonial 'last drink' on earth and a token of respect for 'Mother Ganga' who has supplied the body with everything it needed in life.

Following the traditional bathing, the body is placed on its pyre with the feet facing south and head facing north - this is in order for it to walk easily in the direction of the dead. The Karta then walks around the body anti-clockwise three times with a clay pot of Ganges water on their shoulder, every time he reaches the head of the deceased some water is drained from the pot until the pot is thrown over the shoulder so that it breaks, this signifies life leaving the vessel and being returned to nothing.

Finally, the pyre is lit and sandalwood and ghee are added to the body to give a nicer smell and fuel the flames. The body will burn for three hours in which the family members that have attended will diligently stay.

Quite disturbingly, Delvi informed us that after three hours all that will be left of the body is the torso, which takes a lot longer to burn and be reduced to ash. The torso is then carried to the waters and thrown in - horrifically he informed us that dogs often fetch the body back out to eat and that this is totally acceptable as it is part of the circle of life ('if the dogs don't eat it, the fish will', he shrugged nonchalantly). I'm afraid to say that we saw this grisly concept unfold as a dog at the waters' edge amongst a pile of orange flowers was pulling cooked, yellow meat from bone.

Something that myself and Chelsea both found very hard to grasp however, was that certain people were prohibited from cremation, this seemed extremely harsh as surely that meant that their 'atman' could no be released. These people included: pregnant women, children under five, holy men/monks and diseased individuals. Delvi informed us that due to the Hindu belief of 'Samsara' (the concept of re-birth of the material body and personality, but not the atman or soul) these people had not behaved according to Hindu customs in previous lives, so their negative Karma resulted in them having cursed lives. Incidentally, a pregnant woman is not at fault of negative Karma, it is her unborn child that is seen as unfit to live due to being cursed by the gods. When these sorry souls die they are either buried or tied to stones and dropped into the Ganges.

Delvi, was a great teacher and I learnt a lot about Hindu culture and rites in the short time he spent with us but with the fire beginning to reduce to embers we decided to move on to other ghats and leave the mourners in peace.

Further along there was an intense cricket match taking place next to the water, where two upright bricks were being used as stumps. Apparently if the ball was hoofed into the water then the batter was out; I would have loved a go but feared I'd knock the ball into orbit and be at several angry teens envious mercy.

Having bought some beads from two delightful and exceptionally spoken girls at a stall on Scindia Ghat we caught a rickshaw back to our hotel and couldn't believe how far we had walked - it must have been around 10km! On vacating our rickshaw I spied the most sublime orange cotton trousers you could ever hope to see; they looked like a sunrise on an African Savannah! Needless to say they are now safely around my muscular, masculine thighs and look stupendous!

We are getting up early tomorrow to watch the sunrise from a boat on the Ganges; I'm genuinely scared that we may see a body...