Because it had been suggested that the Karmarpa was to arrive the following day, we decided to go straight to Sarnarth and the Vajravidya Institute, to find out what the arrangements might be on the following days. The monastery, temple and associated learning facilities - this is a major Buddhist academic site, teaching from 5 year olds to post-doctoral students - is very large, but an oasis of peace and beauty quite distinct from the hustle and bustle of its surroundings.Formal gardens with monks, nuns, and lay people, gliding round the place, while our tour leaders went off to find out what might be arranged.
Sitting in the gardens was enough - as one of our party said - there is no where where I would rather be than here at this moment. A true summary.
Erika, the tour organizer, and Ken, our tour leader, came back and were able to tell us that an audience had been arranged with Kenchen Thangu Rinpoche for the following morning. The Karmarpa was arriving at four pm the following day and that it was possible that an audience might be arranged.
Fairly late in the day we set off to go to our hotel. The bus journey was fairly uneventful, though on very crowded roads. That is it was uneventful until we got close to the hotel. The bus driver the told us we had to disembark, carry all our luggage down the steps of a ghat and load ourselves and our luggage onto a super (!?!) power boat, to complete our journey on the Ganges.
(The explanation for this, which only came the following day, was that streets are so narrow and congested near the hotel that there is no possibility of vehicular traffic; for a somewhat wider zone traffic if forbidden; and for a wider zone still, by the time we got there, traffic is congestion was so acute that there was no possibility of a large bus getting through.
We got onto the Ganges eventually where the knowledge I have of boats proved to be a handicap. I was sitting at the rear of the boat, and could see the propeller shaft, which had no stern gland, or anything like one. This meant that every revolution of the propeller put more water into the boat. By the time we landed I reckon the boat had taken on two more inches of water than when we started.
I can only describe the Ganghes and Varanesi in cliche - a seething mass of activity with thousands of people doing their thing - usually in the noisiest, most flamboyant way possible.
And bed beckoned once more.