Varanasi

We woke at dawn, but it was a very misty morning and not too much to see. As it got light, a flotilla of boats filled with travellers passed our balcony – obviously a dawn boat ride is on everyone’s agenda.

A cold morning. We ate cheese and tomato toasted sandwiches at a cafe by the ghats, then went for a wander through the streets and drank tea at the restaurant we went to last night, waiting for the shops to open so K could go sari shopping. She’s doing that now – I went for a walk through the alleys of the old city, and am now writing back at the cafe. It’s warming up now; still misty but getting sunnier.

All day, people are bathing at the ghats, mostly men. You can’t walk ten feet without someone asking if you want to go on a boat. But in general the hassling here isn’t as bad as I expected.

After a quick lunch together K continued on her sari quest, and I went for another wander, buying a few cheap scarves, then back to the hotel room for a read and nap as I was feeling pretty worn out with walking. We ate at the Mona Lisa restaurant nearby, which wasn’t too bad. I was feeling pretty shit, and had a non-stop cough.

Before dinner, K and I walked south along the ghats as the sun was going down, past the smaller burning ghat where we sat for a bit and watched bodies burn – nothing like a pleasant Saturday evening stroll – then on until it was getting dark. At one stage, unnervingly, I suddenly had a cloud of mosquitoes around my head which persisted in following me for a while.