amosas etc all freshly cooked. I also bought oranges and bananas from the market.
I then went for a stroll along the Assi Ghat. I sat in the sun and watched people coming to bathe. The water must have been freezing. As the day before there were animals roaming around and people in boats going up and down the river to view the ghats or cross to the other side. It was a lovely peaceful interlude as I did not feel the need to rush to see the sights. For lunch I found a pizza restaurant perched high above the Assi Ghat with a great view across the river. They were burning an open log fire on the terrace to keep people warm under the shade of the trees.
I ordered a simple Margherita pizza which was delicious. It was thin and crispy and clearly cooked in a wood stove.
Before eating I decided to visit the toilet. This turned out to be eventful. I climbed the stairs from the restaurant to the top terrace and then could see nothing that looked like a toilet. I asked a little boy and he pointed to a shed which turned out to be the barn for the cows at night.
Her children were playing around her. The toilet was in the corner to the right. It was a squat but perfectly clean. However there was no light. Not for the first time I was pleased that I had learned to go everywhere with my small torch hanging from my waste band.
I collected my bag from the hotel and took an auto-rickshaw to the station. I was there too early but that's how I like it. I could not see my train on the screen so I went into the tourist information office where the man told me that it would not go up for an hour. I sat and read, very much the object of curiosity from passengers passing by and an old beggar. There was a tourist policeman near the office and he kept shooing people away.
An Australian couple turned up looking for the same train - the Shramjeevi Super Fast Express. We made more enquiries and were told they had forgotten to put the train on the screen but that in any case it was 30 minutes late. We waited for a while in the tourist waiting room but it was a bit despiriting and there was a long queue of people waiting to sort out their travel arrangements with the one clerk who sat behind the desk.
We headed down to the platform where our train was expected and found that much more interesting. There were lots of traders who turned up when a train arrived and put up a basket weave pillar on top of which they perched a large tray of wares. It could be fresh fruit or snack foods. A chai seller walked up a down the platform. He had a large kettle of pre-made tea which was kept warm on a small portable metal stove.
We found a quiet spot where there was a bench and waited there for a while, chatting about our travel experiences. However we soon became a target for a beggar woman. My companions gave her some money but it resulted in her coming back again with a friend. She went in the end once she realised we weren't giving any more. We felt terrible and this was a constant issue all the time. Seeing terrible poverty on a regular basis whilst clearly being rich in comparison. Whilst we continued to chat I felt a movement on my foot which I thought was a pidgeon as there were plenty around. I looked down and it was a huge very healthy looking rat! I jumped and it scarpered.
We decided to move to a busier part of the platform where we were less subject to these problems. I stood near a loud speaker so I could hear the announcements about our train. The time of arrival got later and later. We were worried that it would come in at a different platorm and we would have to run for it so I kept listening carefully.
While waiting I saw another extraordinary sight. Next to the track was a drain which was clearly a sewer taking all the dirty water from the train. There was a man with a brush who was cleaning the drain by moving the sewage along it with the brush. Every now and again he rodded out drainholes with a stick. All this was done without any protective clothing and his hands were covered in sewage. He was ably aided by a supervisor who stood and watched his not inconsiderable physical effort in moving this wave of gunk. After a while the workman got thirsty and came up to the water taps on the platform. Using his dirty hand he pressed for water and had a drink and then went back to work. A minute later another man came for a drink and unwittingly used the by then germ covered tap to drink!!
Not long after our train arrived just one hour late. This time I was travelling in 2 AC Sleeper which was much better for a woman travelling alone as it was full of lots of families travelling so there were plenty of women as well as men. We left Varanasi at 4.00pm and arrived in Delhi about 10.00 am the next day, 5 hours late. I had slept for much of the journey having enjoyed a supper and breakfast of my street food snacks.
