What a way to ruin a day!

Varanasi is one of the holy pilgrimage sites for Buddhists, as they believe that bathing in the Ganges will wash away their sin. First we toured the ruins of Sarnath, which date back to 200 BC, and is supposedly the place of Buddha's first sermon. I provided comic relief for Allan and our guide when I mistook the cistern there for an ancient BBQ pit. In the evening we took a boat ride on the Ganges to view the Aarti ceremony, a Hindu ritual of offering fire to the deities, and the cremation sites where 12 fires were burning before the ashes were spread into the Ganges.