Plaza Inn Hotel Varanasi

... into the Ganges. I didn't know what to expect before getting to Veranasi but I was not ready for this. There are 6-8 pyres upon which they place the bodies, all which are wrapped up in silver, gold and red cloth. People show up with their dead, purchase the wood on site, dip the body in the river and then cremate it. A cremation takes up to 3 hours from start to finish. It's really hard for me to describe what I've seen in ...

... We had a couple of indians in the boat with us, them and the boat driver regulary drank from the river as we were rowing along which was a good sign of how highly the river water is reguarded.<br>Off to the train station and after a 4 hour delay we caught the overnight sleeper train to Kalcutta, unfortunatly maybe due to the washing of plates in river water alan has picked up a nasty dose of dehli belly and sickness so he is very poorly at the mo - hoping it will settle soon.<br> <br>

... off to find me a hairbrush and a new diary. <br><br>It&#8217;s not all bad we are off to watch the sunset on a boat on the Ganges tonight, photos to follow&#8230;.<br><br>Love and miss you and as always wish you were here with us,<br><br>The Gibbons x x x <br><br>P.S &#8211; one little piece of silver lining is the upgraded room our tour guide has organized for us, he is such a great person in a crisis.

... and your bags on the correct car. <br><br>The trains' bathrooms (2 on a car) feature aluminum toilets (one western style, one Asian Squat model). Both deliver their contents directly to the rail bed below the coaches, via a stove pipe. Unlike SE Asia and Russian trains, where they lock the restrooms while train in in station, here they are wide open as people load and wait. I'll just say , you haven't lived until you sit for a half and hour or so waiting for ...

... heat! when we eventually got there, it was really nice! There was some gorgoeus courtyards &amp; the buildings inside were really detailed &amp; nice! so we spent awhile there, before heading off to the railway museum! Broc went to visit it while I went for a wander around the markets! We returned back to near the hostel, had a look around the shops &amp; bumped into this man from Brutan! We got chatting him &amp; ended up going for 'chai'! he was from a really ...

... explored temples, joked around with locals and shopped plus we spent alot of time in the famous Mona Lisa Cafe with all the other clowns and random characters that loiter around. We bought a couple of pieces of Varanasi silk which is prized the world over. Varanasi is famous for its silk weaving cottage industry and entire families are involved in this creative work. There were also some great wooden toys and bangles to be admired. I'm obsessed with the Taj Mahal and even ...

... where they would recieve commission and where all the rooms were concrete boxes. We had to be very stern to get to our chosen hotel which we later changed choice on four times before settling for the Mona Lisa Guesthouse in the old town which we reached via a maze of narrow, arabesque alleyways. To do this we dodged numerous sacred cows and their piles of **** as we lugged our packs around in the scorching heat of the middle of the day. We were feeling good because ...

... tour only to be caught in the first Varanasi monsoon rain storms. Freaking typical. Days on the bog and as soon as I leave the room the heavens open. Shelter under a tree would not suffice so I jumped in a tuk tuk. Feck the guy on the bike. When it rains it rains. And when I have a strop I really throw my toys out the pram. I was not impressed.<br><br>So anyway I'm floating down the mother ganga. Now I might be a bit daft but I was expecting to see the ...

... to be cremated here as the wood has to come from far afield and if you can only afford half of it, your semi-burnt body will just be launched into the river!!! And there are people swimming in it all the time - in fact an English guy, Joe, (another chef) who's staying at our guesthouse has been for a dip a couple of times - he's looking a little off-colour today tho' - we hope he's ok.

... leaving me and Dave to sweat it out. The temperature during this time of year was lethal.... We spent our time here roaming around the river Wats, teasing a small white dog outside our hotel, exploring all the nooks of crannies of one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world and trying not to step in giant mounds of cow ****. Dave was terrible at avoiding these steaming piles and due to his poor choice of sandals ...