Sunday 11th September

Early in the morning

Up before the crack of Dawn. 4am work up call. Ric stayed in bed as the bus ride just did him in! So I took one for the team and headed out for a boat ride on the Ganges. No one else was up in India. Well that was until we made it to the ghats of the Ganges. These are steps that take you down to the river. You can only see half the paintings on the Walls as the river was so high as it is still monsoon season. We hopped on the boat which motored us along the river so we could see the various morning rituals for Hindus in holy Varanasi at the river.

In the meantime the sun Rose majestically as a bright red and orange ball of fire. As the river was so high we performed our flower candle ceremony. We made a wish as we lit a candle in a small vessel filed with Rose petals and marigold flowers and set it upon the river from the boat. It swirled away quickly, taken by the strong currents. Just beautiful.

I made it back, ate breakfast and promptly went back to bed until just before 12. In my infinite wisdom, I booked a yoga session for 12.30. Our yogi was Bablu. I thought he said Babu at first, thought it was funny. This man was so flexible. He gave is great yoga moves for curing all types of ailments but I just needed a good stretch as did we all after our bus journey the day before. It was supposed to be 1 hour, it ended  being 2 hours. 

Once out, we had to rush to head out to the silk factory. I was finally going to get my long     
wished for sari. Upon entering the factory we were shown how the yards of silk with intricate designs are made. Some of the pieces are so detailed that they can only complete an inch per day.  Amazing. They brought us into the back room to show us their collection. About 6 men started pulling out bed spreads, and table runners, and scarves. I finally told them I was interested in saris. And boy did they have gorgeous silk saris...I bought one. They showed me how to tie it in various ways. They took my measurements after we bargained for a good price. As he said, "you are happy, I am happy". So, deal. It would be delivered to my hotel tomorrow, with an underskirt and top. I am happy!

Quick stop at the hotel and into cycle Rickshaws. We had the smallest biker. Ric was dying to hop on to help in out but we probably would have died In less than 5 minutes the way they drive here.
We headed to the daily ritual at the Ganges for 7. We got a seat front and side which was great except we right next to the speakers. The smell of marigold and fresh Rose petals was amazing. As the ceremony started a fly flew down my top even though I had a sarong around my shoulders and promptly stung me leaving me with my hand down my top in front of the priests trying to get the stinger out. Not very Hindu of me...
The  ceremony was mesmerising, I thoroughly enjoyed it, that after the first few minutes, I stopped taking photos so I could fully enjoy the experience. 
ok so my camera died. Tomorrow is a free day then overnight train ride.