Varanasi - Cruise, Capital, Cattle and Cuisine!

Last night was a sunset cruise on the Ganges.  This morning was a sunrise cruise.  Not much to see looking east, but the early morning sun on the ghats was lovely.

This is an an ashram, seen in the morning light.

People also had their early morning cleansing dip in the Ganges.  Including one "foreigner".   But not me.  Infection control training sessions have left too many inhibitions!

Then we drove to Sarnath.  Here we saw this:
 
This is the Lion Capital of Sarnath - the decoration on top of a pillar.  In 1950 it was adopted as the official symbol of India, and is on the front of their passports.  I had always thought it was a lovely design  - so I was surprised to see that the designing was done over two and a half thousand years ago, during the time of Emperor Ashoka in 250BC!  The real thing was beautiful too.  Security was very tight to see this, so this pic is from Google.

Unlike Calcutta, there are cows/buffaloes in Varanasi.

But those of us who grew up in the country will recognise this! It keeps the cows away from the hotel, just as it stopped them going into another paddock. 

Food in India continues to delight.   This was lunch today - good old tandoori chicken and bhuna lamb - and Kin Mun had fish - but they were lovely. Being away from the ghats, we could eat meat.

We find we are eating a substantial lunch and miniscule dinner at night.  I hope my tummy doesn't rebel just yet.
And breakfast this morning had a nice surprise too! Although I also had some oat porridge and toast. And India can certainly do yoghurt.