The Holy City

After crossing the Nepal-India border at dawn, 13 hours later we pulled up in the holy city of Varanasi. The journey was peppered with waving school children, leering men and even a pit stop at afo local "service station" for more Dal Bhat.

Driving through the city was an experience with chaotic traffic for the approaching festival, people toileting at every angle, despite this it was a exciting feeling to be part of the buzzing ancient city.

The next morning we set off on our riverboat trip, spending two days lazily sailing down the Ganges on a small cosy boat complete with Indian soft furnishings. We shared our boat with the lovely Shae and Carly. Dave and Carly took it in turns to feel sorry for themselves, with Dave taking the lead when he had his worst toileting experience on a busy river bank.

We spent a night camping on a sandy island which although felt remote was accompanied by a booming soundtrack from two competing Indian weddings taking place across the river several kilometers away. Each meal involved stuffing ourselves with delicious food prepared on the kitchen boat by the Kashmiri chef. We even got to try a local dish accompanied by bread that had been cooked on cow dung.