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Following a fairly decent nights sleep, I woke for some reason still feeling very tired. Poor Matthew however did not have such a great night. He was feeling really run down and dehydrated. We haven't really been eating an awful lot since being here as it's very hot and remembering to drink more is something neither of us are very good at. At breakfast, the hotel owner Dina handed us the menus containing a range of lovely breakfast choices. On requesting two honey pancakes he told us the only things available were scrambled eggs and toast with jam. Matt pushed the boat out and asked for porridge. After waiting 25 minutes and way after I had finished my toast, his 'porridge' arrived. I can't even explain what it was but it definitely was not made with oats. Dina stood very close and very proudly as he watched Matt painfully eat every mouthful. As Matt was already feeling unwell I couldn't bare to watch him make himself ill so I told Dina Matt couldn't finish as he wasn't well, to which Dina appeared very offended. I'm not surprised as he had made it specially for Matt bless him but what can you do!
As Matt needed to keep hydrated and restore some of those all important electrolytes, we decided to have a chill morning. I was happy as I got to catch up with The Kardashians which is my absolute guilty pleasure! They returned the laundry to us but unfortunately tried to charge us twice the price we initially agreed. We stayed firm and told them we were just not going to pay that and they accepted it. This upset me a little as we were getting on really well with Dina, but then this sort of thing happens and it makes you sceptical again- just as we were starting to relax. Im not somebody who likes confrontation but I don't like feeling as though I'm having the wool pulled over my eyes either. It has started to become a little exhausting constantly having to battle with people and stand your ground where money is concerned. I'm learning that I can't take it to heart though, it's nothing personal but some of these people struggle on a daily basis so of course they will try anything, I would do the same. They are never nasty or aggressive towards us but always happy and friendly, just sometimes they have agendas. Once you just accept that, it's much easier to take it in your stride. Like my Mum sometimes says 'There but for the Grace of God go I'.
After our chill, we decided to head out for an evening walk along the Ghats and I'm so glad we did. It was a completely different atmosphere at this time. It was so calm and peaceful, exactly what we both needed. While it was still light we sat and dangled our legs over the side above the Ganges river and chatted through our experiences so far. We arranged a sunrise boat tour for tomorrow morning which we were really keen for. We saw a cafe at the top of one Ghats called Everest Cafe where we grabbed a Coke and watched the world go by. On our way back for dinner, we walked back through Assi Ghat to find a celebratory Aarti for Shiva and the River God was taking place. We sat with some gorgeous sweet lemon tea and watched. The atmosphere was great, everyone was so chilled and happy, there was a real sense of community here too, and not a whisper of money making schemes.
Varanasi is known for its University here so there were lots of students darted about the place. While watching the ceremony, Matt pointed out to me that one of the art students was drawing me! So I subtly (not so subtly) breathed in and sucked in my cheek whilst to trying to remain 'causal' for my portrait. Well, it didn't really look much like me but I was flattered all the same.
We caught a tuktuk back to our favourite restaurant, Shivam, and tried the Singapore Noodles with Vegetable Manchurian, homemade Spring Rolls and Aloo Gobhi Mutter. The last dish was quite spicy but we really enjoyed it all. We walked back to the hotel for a early night as we were getting up at 5.15 am for the sunrise.
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