Leaving the Varanasi train station, I wanted to find the nearby bus station to inquire about tickets to Nepal. A tout walked me to the incorrect place, and then back to the real bus station, where I found out I could not purchase tickets in advance. From there, I haggled hard for a 30 rupee cycle rickshaw ride into the old town. The Lonely Planet guide does not mention that Varanasi is perhaps the most confusing city to negotiate, and any hope of using a map to find your way is out of the question. After being dropped in the old town, I was again lost. Another tout immediately approached me, and with his help and 20 rupees later, I found the guesthouse I was looking for. Upon arrival, I realized that the two Spaniards from the train had chosen this guesthouse as well. The three of us, plus a guy from Argentina, had lunch in the rooftop restaurant, and then wandered the ghats for hours, watching the burning of bodies right in front of us. We could not walk along the water because this is post-monsoon season and the water level was too high. Instead, we had to find each ghat individually by chance, winding our way through the labrynth of alleys that lead away from the water. At dusk we took at boat ride along the Ganges to view the ghats from a different perspective. And then in total darkness, we stood practically in the fires of a ghat to watch yet another burning. This particular ghat runs 24/7 evidently. Cremation is a good business here.