Varanasi - Day 2 & 3

Damon discovered our hotel has a spa in the basement - not quite what we think of as spas but he went for a massage anyway and thought it was great. He was very relaxed by the time our guide and driver arrived for the afternoon tour yesterday. Being relaxed while driving through Varanasi is important. This place has the craziest transportation system yet - the ultimate chaos hardly describes it. I took this photo is of a family on a motor scooter directly in front of our van. Carseats for children is not part of Indian regulations. Our tour today took us to Benares Hindu University. It is huge, has a high reputation and is situated in lovely, peaceful surroundings - very different from the ghats. We visited a couple of remarkable temples and we then taken to the Muslim area for a demonstration of silk weaving. This a traditional Muslim skill passed on in families through the centuries. The silk is woven by hand right in the homes of the Muslim families. It was remarkable to see. Of course, with any demonstrations we have received we are welcomed with refreshments and a presentation of the product. This sales pitch was typically taking a very long time. We've finally figured out that we just need to be abrupt and tell them we're not interested. In the evening we wnet to the main ghat to watch a ceremony honouring the Hindu gods. It was colourful, noisy and well orchestrated - lots of music, fire, clapping, chanting and ritual. The bugs were awful tonight but the repellant seems to be keeping us from being bitten. Tomorrow we're off to Sarnath, where Buddha preached his first sermon. More to come on that.