Sunrise in Varanasi

A common occurrence during my trip to India and Nepal was extremely early wake up calls. I was up at 4.30am on 2 occations to try and catch a glimpse of a beautiful sunrise, up at 5am to jump on the bus and travel to the next destination (and caught glimpses of sunrises) and I was up at 5am to take an early morning flight through the Himalayas to see the peak of Everest. One of my favourite places visited on this trip was Varanasi in India. An extremely spiritual place, right on the ganges. This city is incredibly important to Hindus, a centre for pilgrimage. The ganges is considered holy, and to bathe here can purify one's soul. Many people come to Varanasi to die, because to be cremated here and have your ashes scattered into the Ganges means liberation from reincarnation. We witnessed a cremation ceremony, during a sunset boat ride, which I will post pictures of in another post, but despite how early the start, the sunrise I witnessed in Varanasi was one of the most memorable travel experiences I've ever had. 

Amazingly I came to like the copious stray dogs in India, who would really mind their own business.