We were unfortunate enough to meet a tout who pledged to give us 4 hours of autorickshaw rides for 150 rupees. He was hanging out at the lobby counter of our hotel and speaking to the counter guy when we arrived at the lobby, and the counter guy actually introduced us to the tout and told us that he will bring us around the city.

Our plan for the day was just to change money at the town centre, get some books and do a little shopping. It was almost hijacked by the tout. The real touring was supposed to start tomorrow with a visit to the River Ganges (or Ganga, as the locals call it), but the tout had other ideas and wanted to bring us to the silk factories where he gets a commission.

This is a photo of him, when he was friendlier and was eager to earn our trust.



Breakfast was puri (again) and sickly sweet jalebis at a roadside stall. It cost a grand total of 11 rupees (30 SG cents) each.







Tea cost 2 rupees, and was served in clay cups which were broken and thrown away immediately after the tea is finished. It is common practise to do so, and one can find cardboard boxes with the broken remains of the cups outside all the tea stalls. This to me was a rather wasteful practise that seems illogical in a place where poverty is rife. I can think of a million ways to reuse the cups.





We changed money in the Old City area. This is an example of the crammed streets.









We found our bookshop. The driver claimed that this was the best bookshop in Varanasi. We actually told him that we wanted to go to another bookshop, but he either misinterpreted what we said or decided what is best for us himself. At any rate, the bookshop was pretty decent.







After quarreling with the tout, we ended up back at our hotel, safely. This is the first decent hotel we have stayed at. Apparently it is in the Cantonment area, which is the posh and thankfully quieter area of Varanasi. It remained warm during the day though. Here are some views from our balcony...





After lunch, we took a walk around the street outside our hotel. Apparently the street is called The Mall, and surprise surprise, there is a mall along the street. Seeing Pizza Hut and MacDonalds tell me that we are somewhere closer to civilisation. We promptly had our dinner at MacDonalds. Maharajah Big Mac, anyone? I was clearly overexcited.





There are A LOT of cows and goats in Varanasi. Unlike other Indian cities we have visited, the abundance of dogs have been replaced by an abundance of cows and goats. They are everywhere, munching on refuse and blocking traffic.



Here's our candidate for cow of the day: