DAY TEN - REWA TO VARANASI - 243km

Today it rained. It was the first real downpour we’ve had since leaving Goa and it couldn’t have come at a worse time. We’re all exhausted. We’ve hit the wall and this blog will be the shortest so far.

Today we entered our fifth and final Indian state. The next border we cross will take us into Nepal. Uttar Pradesh was presented to us in spectacular fashion today. The road to the border had been flat and straight for hundreds of kilometres. We had no idea we had been travelling at a relatively high altitude, so it was a surprise when the road started winding downhill and suddenly opened up to reveal a plateau a few hundred metres below, which stretched as far as we could see.

It was spectacular from up there, but as we made our way down and further into Uttar Pradesh, the charm we’d seen and friendliness that we’d felt from the people of Madhya Pradesh was suddenly gone. The roads felt more dangerous and there were trucks on their sides in ditches to prove it, and the relative ease we’d found to drive from Goa to here, had now been replaced with something closer to road-rage.

So it's confirmed, this really has been the challenge we heard it would be. We always knew there would be a point, around this time when our bodies and minds would give up. Today was that day and it came over all of us in various ways. Katie was stung by a wasp, which was enough to bring on the tears she probably needed to let out. And the rain brought everyone down – in the rickshaw it was cold and wet and it took a lunchtime power-nap and an afternoon of chocolate to sort the girls out. Gordon was snappier than ever - not surprising considering the multiple engine niggles he had to deal with.

We need good food, fruit and sleep. Hopefully that will all come tomorrow. In the meantime, we have a 5am call and a dawn shoot at the Ghats here in Varanasi tomorrow morning. Just what we need right now.

Tonight we’ll sleep in our eleventh bed since arriving in India. Three more to go before we return to our families and friends. But when we do, I know we’ll have forgotten the bad stuff and only have great stories to tell.