Up at 4:00 a.m. in the still, dark, morning. Packed all stuff on the Truck and left just before 5:00 a.m. for our massive 12 hour drive to Varanasi. The first part of the journey was quite pretty, driving down dirt country roads through the farm lands and small villages, seen through our still sleepy, dreamy, eyes. The mid part of the journey was hot (44C) and un-notable, and the final part on dual carriageway became busier, more congested, and noisier as we entered Varanasi. Along the way we crossed a wide, partially dried river on a very narrow sandy causeway, I think the bridge had collapsed. They guys from the Truck got out and lifted a metal structure that was put up for a wedding - two big metal archways over the road which weren't high enough to let the Truck pass, so the guys each took a corner and lifted it up and the Truck drove underneath; and the third interruption was coming upon a protest in one of the towns which held us back about an hour. Apparently a policeman had shot one of the locals and the townsfolk were protesting this. It could have gotten violent so we stayed well out of the way. When we finally passed there were tons of heavily armed police around.
We have now arrived in Varanasi (5:16 pm) dinner in the beatiful garden and bed around 10. Tomorrow we have an early morning cruise on the Ganges.
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