The past few days in visual form (Varanasi, July 6th)

One of the benefits of travelling is regular access to internet (with connections that are considerably faster than in the hills), but it seems that power cuts are common throughout India, and it cut out right before I managed to post this. This is from Varanasi, and then I'll hopefully manage one for the past couple of days right after! That is, if the light doesn't go off suddenly here in Agra!

We're still in Varanasi now, having a really good time just taking it slowly (it's hard to do anything otherwise in this heat). It's so hot that I've stopped noticing the heat and am just always dripping with sweat. Putting on sunscreen always seems pointless, as it barely rubs in before I'm sweating it all off. We walk around with umbrellas all the time (something I picked up in Ghayabari), which gives the guys hanging around something to talk to us about ("Hey madam, nice umbrella! "), but it keeps the sun off.
Faster internet connection means a chance to upload pictures! Already I've taken absolutely masses, so here are just a few...



Wednesday afternoon, madly scrambling to catch the bus down from Ghayabari to the train station. Yesterday was the first day that I started to get into the excitement of travelling, instead of just moping about how much I missed Ghayabari.

Kolkata - Howrah train station. Love the yellow cabs so much!!!
Evening puja ceremony on the banks of the Ganges
We did a cooking course yesterday - we made a veg thali - rice, dal, roti, and veg curry (subji). It was really good fun, especially the meal afterwards.
Boat trip on the Ganges (Ganga). I need to learn how to take self-portraits without cutting people's heads off. We did two boat trips that day - the first one in the morning, and then again in the evening to watch puja from a different angle. Both were really nice, but very different. In the morning it was really relaxed, and we watched everyone go about getting ready to start their day (washing clothes, splashing about in the water, playing games, washing themselves). In the evening we went on a bigger boat with a bunch of other people, including these two Indians from Delhi who were hilarious (urban Indians seem very different from rural Indians), and watched the various puja ceremonies along the ghats.