My (24 hour ride) train arrived at 1:30 (am), over 6 hours late (i.e. 30 hours long). They gave my room away, so I weaseled a cot with fresh sheets in the staff room (they sleep on mats in the lobby) for free (I tipped him this morning), and was able to use the common shower/toilet (for some of the rooms) this morning, since I had been in the same clothes for 48 hours! I got up at 5:30 for boat tour on river, but weather is poor (foggy) so it was a little disappointing. And cold. Well, 19°C with fog/haze and wind and no sun felt mighty cold without a real sweater on! I was told the weather was quite unusual and it had been nice in the morning all week (plus, it didn’t get sunny until mid-afternoon!) I’m leaving Varanasi for Agra in a few hours – a 12 hour night train! Unfortunately this means I will miss the Shiva festival tonight (and tomorrow night), but I didn’t know about that. Tip: don’t schedule just one day in a town if it is important, esp. if you want sunshine for good photos! Too much travel, will cut Jaisalmer out of that itinerary…
Update: I did watch some cremations at Manikarnika Ghat, the main one with continual cremations (24 hours a day, a good dozen at once). More on that when I do the highlights. Inhaling that smoke didn’t help my lungs any (I started coughing again on the long train ride coming here).