On Thursday morning Bette, Gwyn, Giles, Mark and I went back to the artist studio to have a painting lesson and we also bought some of his works as gifts. Mark did a very good 'Ganesha', Bette's tiger looked more like a bear and my sunset was pretty woeful. Gwyn did an excellent hand-drawn tiger and Gwyn got part way through his idol painting in the 2 hours.
Back to the hotel by 12pm and then we met up with the rest of the group to take a flight to Varanasi. After arriving and freshening up we went for a walk along the Ghats along the Ganges at Varanasi.
It was crazy with hundreds of touts (vcry young, usually between 5yrs and 11yrs old) selling flower/ candle offerings or trying to get international coins from us. There was also heaps of mud and we didn't know to wear runners / covered shoes so several of the girls trashed our shoes. There were also several 'hair-raising' crossings of different areas of the Ghats. The river had apparently been quite high in recent days and so there was lots of mud everywhere.
After walking through to the Main Ghat (about 1km down the Ganges), we went 'inland' and saw some of the market stalls and went into a small bazarr which specialised in 100% cotton items. Aurore bought a convertable skirt and top, whilst we bought a tablecloth for Mark's mum.
Friday morning we had another very early start to pick up a sunrise boat cruise on the Ganges. It was 5.30am when we reached the water and very misty / errie. We saw the full lifecycle on the Ganges with many people bathing and drinking from the Ganges which is believed to be one of the holiest places in India. Others were washing their clothes in the Ganges. At the same time, we passed the burial Ghats where 24 hrs a day, people who die in Varanasi (or nearby) are burnt on pyres and then the askes are thrown into the Ganges. If someone has died in childbirth or 2 or 3 other certain conditions, they are not allowed to be cremated and they are simply floated in the Ganges directly, along with cows which are sacred animals. It makes for a very overwhelming blend of activities in the river.
After the morning cruise, which finsihed around 7am, we went back to the hotel for breakfast and then had a free day until the evening.
Jean-Paul, Mark and I took a private taxi to Sarnath which is the place where Biddhism was born. All of the temples and architecture we'd seen to-date had been Hindu or Mongol so it was quite fascinating to see more about the Buddhist community. We saw about 5 different temples and also some old ruins. It was excruciatingly hot and so we had to sit down in some shade for about 30-mins to try to cool down.
Returning back to Varanasi, we had another evening cruise on the water and then had dinner.
On Saturday we went for a walk in town but both Mark and I started feeling quite ill all of a sudden, so we took a tuk-tuk back to the Hotel and went straight for the drugs and a lie down in the airconditioning. We had to be ready for a late afternoon flight from Varanasi to Delhi.
I has developed a major feber (extremely hot skin to touch and bright red) whilst Mark had got the classic Delhi Belly symptoms, running to the toilet regularly.
We just made it to the airport but were without water for about 1hr which was hell for me as I'd been drinking approx 3-4 litres of bottled water due to the heat and my body temperature.
On the plane, they gave us a little of water very quickly but I was completely wet with sweat from my fever. It was certainly a very uncomfortable flight for both of us. Arriving back in Delhi we went straight to the room and tried to cool down/ feel better. Matk was very concerned as I was boiling hot but also shivering and getting goosbumps which was weird.
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