Our final stop in India and one of the oldest cities in the world. Hindu pilgrims flock here as it is a crossing place between the earth and the Gods and bathe in the holy water of the Ganges. Anyone who dies here attains instant enlightenment.

We arrived at the Ganges at sun rise and took a boat trip along the river bank. We watched monks burning incense, pilgrims bathing, bells being rung all with a thick mist hanging over the river. The atmosphere was really hard to describe and like nothng we have ever expereinced before. We walked further up river and came acorss a funeral ceremony, we watched the family bring the body out to be washed in the river and then saw the cremation on the banks, we found it moving and just too difficult to put into words.

Varanasi is is also a place where pilgrims traditionally give to beggars and we were heart broken at what we saw. Amongst those begging were leprosy victims who were suffering immensely.

We're having a quiet day today to contemplate all our experiences before moving onto Nepal tomorrow.