There were hundreds of people sleeping all over the concourse. They were each covered from head to toe in thick blankets, very necessary as the temperature was only 2 or 3 degrees above freezing. It was still very foggy. The photo to the left from Google Images shows what it was like except this was taken in warmer weather.I looked every where and could not see a driver with a board with my name on so I stood at the front of the concourse where it was well lit and I could be clearly seen. Lots of driver came up to me offering me a taxi or auto-rickshaw. I had to keep saying 'No, somebody coming'. After 30 mins of this it became clear 'nobody coming'. I tried ringing the contact number I had been given but had been having difficulty ringing Indian mobiles on my mobile and I could not get through.
I was tempted to just go and get an auto-rickshaw to my hotel but then I spotted an STD booth. These are all over the place and are used by Indians without phones to make calls. I gave the man in the booth the number I was trying to phone and he dialled it. I got through to Mr Taweri straight away and he then sent the driver. An hour later I was in my new hotel.
The room was lovely, with a nice balcony outside and view across the Ganges which was just beginning to appear out of the morning fog as it got light. I freshened up, went for breakfast and then set off to explore. 
My Lonely Planet said to just walk along the Ghats so that is what I did. I was staying at the southernmost Assi Ghat which was the end of the line so I just set off sometimes walking on platforms, sometimes going down or up steps to get onto the next Ghat. The name of each ghat was printed on the wall above. As I walked the river was on my right. The fog gradually cleared and the sun came out. The bank on the other side of the river slowly appeared from the mist.
To my left was a very steep rocky cliff and completely covered in a jumble buildings - temples, hotels and restaurants. Sometimes there were steep steps which led up off the ghat through little alleyways into the streets behind. 
There were men out doing the laundry and the picture on the right shows laundry drying on the ghats.
All along the river there were boats tied up to the banks. Some were taking tourists out on the river to view the ghats. Some were crowded with groups of pilgrims and some were crossing the river to the opposite bank. Apparently Buddhist pilgrims came to visit a site of special significance in the life of the Buddha, which was on the opposite bank to the Ghats.
As I walked I passed cows, goats and dogs clambering about on the steps. In places there were boys playing cricket or flying kites. There were also hawkers selling candles surrounded by flowers in a little bowl made of leaves ready to light and float on the Ganges. Pilgrims were coming down either singly or in family groups to bathe in the Ganges and do Puja. There were lots of wooden platforms each with its sun shade and on some of them there was a small group sitting in a circle doing puja together, occasionally led by a guru. 
Men from the boats kept coming up to me and offering me a boat ride. (There were posters painted on the stone pillars of some of the ghats. 'Bote on Ganga one hour/100 rupees'). I said 'No just walking' which seemed to work.After a while I came to the main ghat which was very crowded with pilgrims and in the evening would be the place to come to to watch the puja ceremony and launch lighted candle boats on the river. I passed this and came to the 'burning ghat' where there were big piles of wood and families were holding cremation ceremonies for loved ones.
I was approached by a man who told me I could not take photos. He tried to persuade me to visit the hospice where he worked and to make a donation. I had read about this scam and knew there would be no hospice and the donation would go to his cause.I kept walking and eventually got to the end of the ghats. There I hired a boat and cruised back down to the main ghat. My boatman boy called Manish who said he was 14 years old. He told me he worked for a boat owner and gave him 25% of his earnings. His aim was to buy his own boat but this meant he had to save up 40,000 rupees about £600. He said this was difficult as his mother was ill and he contributed to her medicines. His father sold postcards and souvenirs and he had a younger brother who worked as well.
He asked me if I was going to the puja on the main ghat in the evening and said yes. He said he would be there with his boat in order to take me out to view it from the river. I think he will soon make his boat money. If anybody is going to India and wants to help him by giving him more business this is his mobile number :+91 7499265287.
By this time I was hungry so I went to explore a restaurant called the Dophin. First I had to climb about 50 steps to get to the entrance and then another 50 to get up to the top floor of the hotel where the restaurant was. The view from the top was stunning. I was to be disappointed as they were not serving meals until 12.00 pm.
It was 11.30 and I was starving so I went back down to street level and walked up a little alley at the side of the hotel. Luckily I found a street vendor who was cooking stuffed aloo shaped like a tennis ball . I ate two with chilli sauce and that set me up for more walking. I continued up to the main road where there was a street market. I wandered along here and then made my way back down to the ghats and back to my hotel.I had a rest back at the hotel and did some more blogging and then got ready to go back out to see the main puja. I walked back up to the main ghat as it was dropping dark. I was not the only one. There was a general flow of people in that direction. When I arrived there was a seizeable crowd gathering. There were seven platforms on the edge of the ghat over looking the river. Each platform had a shrine on it and above an umbrella shaped canopy which was all lit up.
Sure enough Manish was waiting for me and keen to get me to go out on the river. I persuaded him to wait until nearer the start time as I suspected it would be cold out on the river. I bought some candle boats. The woman who sold them to me lit them for me and I floated them on the river, one for each on my sons to bring them good fortune. The ceremony was due to start at about 6.30 so we set off out on to the river. By this time there were many boats full of people ready to watch the puja. 
We went out onto the river to launch my last candle which was for me. There were lot of other candle lights glimmering in the middle of the river. We then went back closer to shore. Eventually seven Brahmins came and started the ceremony which turned out to be quite a show.Out of the corner of my eye I saw something on the edge of the boat. I thought it was a rat climbing up the side to get out of the river and into the boat. I looked over the side and could see nothing. A few minutes later I was proved right as a rat came over the edge of the boat and then went down under the floor boards covering the floor of the boat. I was not keen on this and called Manish over. He had been talking to his friends on the next boat. He stayed in our boat to protect me from any more problems! After an hour we went back to shore and I climbed back up to the Dolphin restaurant for an evening meal of chicken cooked in spinach with a naan and...oh yes a Kingfisher! Delicious! I then walked back up the alley to the main road. There were lots of people around shopping in the market and in all the shops in the streets around. I picked up a cycle rickshaw and went back to the hotel. There was a power cut on the way and all the street lights went out. My torch came in handy again. It was a very cold night once more and I was very grateful for the thick blankets in my hotel room.
