We checked in at a swanky hotel, complete with free comb and dental kit. Walking through the streets we caught our first glance of the holy Ganges. So fast flowing! We went to explore the nearby streets, and hopped in a tuk-tuk equivalent of a bus, whilst some gangsta indian music played on the radio- we had to suppress our laughter at the surreal situation. On the way to a restaurant, a smiling man with a huge red circle on his forehead started up a conversation, and for the next half an hour he barely took a breath. Initially thinking that he was trying to sell us something from his shop, it quickly became apparent that he just wanted to chat. We have never met such an excitable guy! We talked about food, and how he ate 8 almonds that he had put in a glass of water the night before for breakfast. He asked Hugo if he liked cricket, to which Hugo replied 'yes I like kit-kats, I suppose', to which he burst out in giggles, having never heard anything so funny. He sang us his favourite song, but nothing prepared us for his version of the shaggy classic Mr bombastic. The most hilarious moment so far. He then got out all his photographs of his foreign friends. We said goodbye to the legend that is Usil and laughed our way to little Buddha cafe, where we had a huge ice cream sundae, with a view over the Ganges by night. That evening, on the return to the hotel, we booked to do rafting. When the receptionist said it was only £3.50 each, we were left wondering what we had signed up for. That night our ac broke, and after attempts by four people to fix it, they gave up and told us they would fix it tomorrow. The next morning we were driving along in a Jeep with three men who didn't speak English. We picked up a guy from a cafe who had also never done rafting before, and headed to the starting point. This was reassuring, at least there was someone else in the same boat, ha ha. We were fitted with life jackets and helmets and off we went, rafting down the Ganges. We responded to the two commands, stop and go, and bounced along over the first rapids, which also turned out to be the last rapids, and wasn't really that rapid for that matter. The rest of the time we drifted down the lazy river for 12km, jumping over the side and holding on to a rope. The current was actually pretty strong! So whilst it may not have been the rapids we expected, it was great value and definitely encouraged us to try it again. Swimming down the Ganges is quite an experience! And don't worry, no dead bodies floating around. After scrubbing ourselves clean and rinsing our clothes, we went for lunch and had our first dosa! Like a giant pancake filled within potato. Hugo also found his new favourite dish, paneer tikka. We walked back to the hotel, passing many sadhus dressed in orange cloth and begging for food, and most sleeping rough. We had a great orange, mango and mint fruit juice from a popular juice shack. The next day we ate at the chotiwala, a local restaurant chain, before making our way to the station to wait 2 hours for the train to haridwar. Whilst waiting, a young guy, perhaps the same age as us, came over and handed us his phone, which was playing a video of surgery. Turned out it was the caesarean of his friend's baby being born. When it finished, and Hugo and I looked at each other with astonished faces, he just casually walked off and began playing Justin bieber. Not an everyday occurrence! On the train we sat opposite an Indian couple who began talking to us in limited English. She asked to add me on WhatsApp, and he told me I had beautiful blue eyes. When I said Hugo had blue eyes too, he responded by saying they were grey, hahaha, unlucky Hugo. A family sat on the seats behind ours kept peeking round and smiling at us. The man brought his toddler to shake my hand, and another young boy offered me his corn on the cob. I politely declined. After arriving in to haridwar, we made our way to the ghats to watch the evening Hindu ceremony by the Ganges. There were huge crowds of people, all sitting down on sheets of chocolate wrapper mats. Half-naked men were dipping themselves in the Ganges, holding on to chains so that they didn't float off. This seemed to be the Indian hindu tourist photo spot, equivalent to the Eiffel tower or the statue of liberty. A loud group of parading hare krishna's marched through the crowd, flanked by people selling science and spirituality books. We made our way to find a spot to watch the dusk ceremony across the river. People dressed in white threw coloured powder and waved flames around whilst a voice on a tannoy spoke in Hindi. The crowds responded by throwing their hands in the air and clapping. Afterwards, people gathered around fires and wafted their hands over the fire and then over their face. They sent little paper boats filled with petals and a candle down the river - very atmospheric. Everyone spilled on to the streets and we walked back to our hotel.