Tour day 7

4am wake up to be ready to leave at 5am. We were straight into tut tuts to head across the dark Varanasi city to see the Ganges. Our driver must have thought we were in the Amazing Race as he decided to race past our fellow students and go up the wrong way on streets dodging the cows, dogs, goats and other morning traffic. There are a lot of tourists and locals heading to the Ganges at this time, for morning blessing as the sun rises.

We walked down a long steep staircase past a lot of beggars which again we are advised not to give money to. It's really hard not to, particularly the ones missing limbs etc. Once we reach the bottom there are wooden row boats everywhere and people praying or washing themselves in the very dirty water. Quite amusing to stand around while people are bathing in front of you in their underwear. 

A wooden row boat is rowing down the river and it is full to the brim of Chinese tourists. Reminded me of the row boats in the Titanic movie, except there was one old Indian man rowing this massive group upstream. I wonder if they can swim.



Morning on the Ganges.



The flame in the centre is the first open crematorium.



There is a lot of morning fog and the air is cool, it doesn't smell too bad. We hop aboard a boat and we are not as crowded as the Chinese boat (thank god as I do not want to swim in this water - holy or not). We paddle upstream and light a flower candle blessing and let them float away. It's absolutely beautiful and I have some amazing photos of the sun rising and shining through the mist, reflecting light across the water.  We exit the boat briefly to walk up towards an open crematorium where bodies are burnt and blessed, this area is chosen by people as a holy spot. Others prefer to use the crematorium further upstream.

We rowed back to the other crematorium. The buildings are very elaborate and covered in black ash. There are piles of timber stacked in boats out front and alongside the building. 

# Facts. Families choose timber based on what they can afford. They prefer to use sandalwood but if they can't afford that they use mango wood or a combination. Hindus believe they will go straight to heaven. They do not burn people who have died from snake bite, are under 12 y.o. or pregnant. Any jewelry they are wearing at the time of death are not taken from the dead. They are burnt with the jewelry on. At the crematorium there are people sifting through the dirt on the river bank like gold panning. They sell off anything they find, more recycling at work on India.   Decided to definitely not buy any jewelry here in case it was from some dead person...very creepy.

It was very smelly here and we were glad to move up the stairs for some fresh air at an ashram that educates boys 8-18. We walked through the very narrow streets of Varanasi avoiding the cow poo and cows. Stopped to watch a man playing with two cobras, our tour guide Abhijeet and Charlene let the man place the two snakes around their necks like a scarf. Very gross.

Snake charmer.

Charlene is very brave.

Then we travelled to Benares Hindu University for a tour. We attended a small reception which was great as we got to chat to students studying our own degrees and make comparisons on teaching styles and units. The Dean of the school showed us his copy of the paper that had the story of our trip to Rajpur. I had to laugh as they had taken so many pictures and the one they printed had me pulling the pinky pose. My friends will be very proud.

A highlight of the university visit would have to be the toilet. Chantal and I ventured into the girls locker room which was very smelly. We entered the toilet room which was so dirty, wet and even smellier plus the window was wide open to the courtyard. I didn't want to shut the window as I needed the air so people could watch if they wanted. The toilets are a ceramic hole with two foot holds. Very gross and quite the cultural experience. The aftershock is quite like after childbirth. When we walked back out to the hall, Abhi our tour guide said he didn't need to ask us how it was as he could tell by our faces. Hey at least we were laughing about it.

This was a huge day so I was very glad to finally return to the hotel. Charlene, Chantal and I went for more cultural experiences and went to the spa for a massage and then onto the bar for some drinks to laugh about the day. Lucky for us (not) there was a fellow Australian traveller in the bar who proceeded to join us and help himself to our food. He put his hand in the bowl of fried mushrooms and scooped out a handful, no spoon required. We generously then offered the remainder to him and we finished our drinks and left him to his own company.

We were very glad to shower and go to bed, such a long day.