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24 June - India - Varanasi - overnight train to Orchha
It's not much cooler as we head down to the river at 5am. Our numbers are depleted due to illness. The same boat with same crew awaits. We see the ghats slowly come alive, the street kids & people stretching awake, rolling up their sacks & undertaking their ablutions .... Yes all !!!! in the river.
The sun rises in a rosy glow, there is a much more relaxed feel about & the manic frenzy of last night is gone. We see the women coming down to wash in the river ( they are either devout locals or some of the many ' southern India tourists' who come to bath in the holy Ganges ).
Today is a free day until 4pm when we leave for the station. Our plan was ATM, back to the silk shop & wifi etc. There are a few more ill so R is kept busy with pharmaceutical advice. Unlike the Chinese trains there is no constant boiling water available so we decide to eat early at the hotel. Fortunately we took extra water with us as we were unable to buy water on the train.
The trip to the station via tuk-tuk
( motorised rickshaws ) that take 2 to 12 depending, was a little hair raising as there were 6 trying to get there first. Not so great for the ill amongst us. The station Is filthy, chaotic & confusing. We just follow dear leader up & down staircases, weaving in amongst locals with their boxes & bags, over broken pavements& rubble. A team effort is required to get the illest member & his bags to the correct platform
where finally we can gather our breath. We know the trains configuration is 6 to a cabin with 2 against the opposite window. We are with 5 group members & settle in for the evening. Some people had ordered meals from the hotel so tucked in & we had a convivial time..... Some of the local kids came to practise their English & Bhagi came & chatted for a while. His contingent were not well, then our compartment went down as well including R.
There are 3 out of 11 ok. Thank goodness we had air conditioning otherwise it would have been unbearable. The linen provided was clean & the night passed ok although everyone was up & down a lot. There is never any toilet paper so we were pooling resources to get us to morning. The toilets did leave a lot to be desired.
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