Varanasi

S and I have just arrived in Varanasi, the holiest site for Hindus in the country. It is also a place of worship for Buddhists and Jains and it is one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. It is a very spiritual place- many elderly or sick come here when they are dying because passing away in this place removes you from the future cycles of rebirth. While we have not seen it yet, Hindus are also burned on the banks of the rivers of the Ganges and their ashes are thrown into this holy river, which many pilgrims also use to cleanse themselves from evil spirits.
We took the non-AC sleeper last night from Kolkata to Varanasi and we both had restless sleeps, being awoken every hour by snoring, loud conversations on cell phones (even at 4AM) and chai-wallahs trying to sell tea and others selling snacks. Our train was 3 hours late and we pulled into Varanasi at 12:30. This evening at 6 we have our opening session for our one-week Hindi language course at Bhasa Bharati Language Institute.