Thursday 7th March 2019 Feeling refreshed by over twelve hours’ sleep and a leisurely breakfast we prepared to set forth on a second day of sight-seeing in Varanasi. Initially, we needed to engage and negotiate with a new tuk-tuk driver, this time preferably without the hanger-on ‘pseudo’ guide/helper. Hashin had spoken to us the previous day as we arrived and, through the throng of volunteer drivers, we chose him based purely on his English language skills. We asked to visit Ramnagar Fort and the Vishwanath Temple. Predictably, after we had agreed a route and a price, he suggested variations on the planned schedule, no doubt hoping to incorporate visits to various friend’s businesses along the way. During the course of the day these additional extras included the Mughal City (Muslim area); a drink of lassi; a massage for Robert who Matilda feels must be looking very tense as he has been offered two and she has yet to be offered even one; shopping for silk pashminas and, finally, cheap beers. We managed to keep the driver more or less on ‘our’ track, only eventually adding Sarnath to the agenda – a place 10 km north of the city and the […]
Daily Archives: 07/03/2019
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