Varanassi Lassi's, comissions mission and gandering the Ghats

Varanassi was stressful indded. Mostly so when the sun was 32 degrees and we were contantly bombarded with touts "Hell sir, hello, you from? you want? what do you want? anything? please!"

Right from the minute we stepped off the train a tout followed us to breakfast, the tourist information, ticket booths, and finally to his rickshaw and into a hotel which bumped up the price to cover his commission so we had to try else where, literally running away from him in the end. Ended up stumbling on a family home stay with the owner who insisted we called her 'Mama'. I don't think I've witnessed Ross hating someone so much! She firtly offered her and her husbands bed, then tried to fob us off in the hallway with no bed, eventually setting us up in her teenage daughters rooms surrounded by hannah montnana pictues. horrific.

Money temple - nicknamed due to the massive of monkeys that inhabit it. Watched Hindus giving money to the holy men who whaled every now and then, Saw a baby boy crawling around on his own surrounded by monkeys wtwice his size, presumably being looked after by the gods.

Ghats - smal boy selling flowers by the waters edge; gourp of young men diving in and splashing each other; man doing underwater summersaults; people collecting the water in bottles; many offerings floating by; Went for a boat ride and road passed the crematorian, was quite unerving to see groups of dogs and goats hanging around. Paid 10 rupees for some good karma though.

Goings on at the train station during 5 ours delayed

Cows on the track = delay! power out, power on, power out. children collecting rubbish on the tracks. Gave a man with one leg some money. Think we see a train coming, but its a motorbike driving down the platform - of course.

Destination Kolcutta - trotting and what notting

Walked over the Howrah bridge apparently the busiest in the world. First impressio were that Kolcutta was dirtier, a lot more street people, but Kolcutta had so much to offer and deserves a lot more credit. Its good to see all sides t India.

Ate at a veg restaurant and decided to try a couple of drinks we didnt know. One truned out to be a warm salty orange juice and another curried water. Sometimes fortune doesnt always favour the brave!

There was a lot more begging in kolcutta and offerings of "you want...something' wink wink. I had to usher a small boy abut 5 years old away from getting run over following us into the road begging.

Museum - hosting an array of deformed animals, including human fetuses in formaldehyde jars. Definatly a highlihgt.