Varanasi - the rest

Found the cheapest internet yet in India.. 15rs for an hour.. 20p!

In keeping with tradition (started yesterday) I will just expand on the notes i make in my journal, with no particular order attached.

4pm bring out the kit flying kids, although i dont know what it is about this time of day that encourages it. If you have ever read the kit runner, well, its like that. Boys with small kits flying them, and trying to cut the strings of neighboring ones. Almost as much fun, and seemingly enjoyed by the poorer kids, is the collecting of those kits that have been 'sunk' (yes yes i know). Running all over the riverbank, always watching the sky, it keeps them entertained till sunset.

Morning reading by the gats (washing areas on the river bank), with the sounds of clothes being washed - beaten to death on a rock anyway - a boat being fixed, a badminton game, and a Spanish hippy playing a hang. It really does make a lovely sound.

Got an impromptu tour of the Muslim part of town, focusing on the weaving and embroidery industry. It was fascinating to see so much still made by hand. I was also able to get the wholesale cost for different types of silks, which will make the bargaining in Calcutta before i leave somewhat fairer.

And I spent the evening (and much of the morning) being involved in the filming of an Indian soap opera. For 500rs and dinner, they bought me! I, alongside a motely crew of tourists, were involved in a beach party scene. Which involved me sitting down and drinking whiskey (watered down Pepsi mum)... the shooting took about an hour, but that was after we had had to wait for 7hours before it started. The pay turned out not to be so great, but it was an interesting experience, and on March 27th, on the channel Saraha 1, i will be famous!

A monkey stole my green merino sweater, and ate all the buttons on the shirt that was also hanging out to dry. Managed to get a tailor to put on new buttons for 20rs, but i will really miss that sweater... bloody monkeys. Which leads me to an observation- why are tailors and chefs always men?