0545 kickoff today..after very little sleep I am like a walking zombie.. This morning we got the bus back into the old town then walked dodging cow pats down to the Ganges again..
Of a morning it's different as it becomes a bathing ritual for the men to wash away their sins in the holy waters .. We took a boat ride again and saw where all the gnats come down to the river there were people washing.. Then we came to the washer men who wash the linens from the hotels where the Hindu people who come to stay..No sacred washing of our sheets just the pilgrims..
It was very misting along the river so photos are not to clear, between the mist and the smog it's hard to see in some places.
The river is very serene in the mornings...
We came back to the bus via a really poor area and god it's so hard to see such poverty. High point though was seeing the snake charmer and his Cobra..one of the men patted the snake..gross !
Back at the hotel for a late breakfast and then off to visit some temples after lunch..
After a nap, followed by lunch we were back in the bus and we took a drive through Indias largest residential university .. they are very proud of it. It is cheap as chips to attend and sponsored by the government.. I am thinking we should send our kids here to study.. 
Next stop was the Sarnath Archaeology Museum .... This stop nearly killed us all, our local guide had a captive audience and he made the most of it, by the time he had finished I wanted to stab myself in the eye !!! I did take 5 minutes to peruse to statues before I headed outside..I may have mentioned before I do hate museums...Next door was the dig site where all the stuff in the museum came from, this site was also where Buddha delivered his first sermon....apparently ..so we took a whirl around there, there were a few different groups of monks doing their chanting and burning insense..I was nice parklands around the dig site. Beside the site was a Temple absolutely too good to pass up, it had some nice murals inside, by then we were nearly running to get on the bus..
All around this area were market stalls and all were keen to sell their wares, Vishel invites them to the bus before we leave and then he shows us all what's for sale and we buy what we want that way.. The food carts look really good until you see the mans hands deep in the mix and knowing full well he would have been one of the many men we see taking a leak behind their stalls and there's definately no washroom anywhere..
There seem to be so many cows wandering about the place, they are beside the roads, in the middle of the roads and some even have their noses in bins..they leave their poo all over the place, there are people who collect the cow pats and dry them out and sell them to make fire instead of using wood.. A business opportunity right there I say as I don't think it's done at home..
It was party night tonight at Vishels room..so he fitted all 24 of us in there and plied everyone will Indian rum, he also had a platter of snacks.. there were a few wobbled boots worn to dinner that's for sure.. but it was fun and everyone seemed to enjoy it..