@hyderago Good idea on the car and driver to see additional sites. Would I book the driver through the hotel?
I'm sure the hotel would be able to do this for you, although not at the cheapest rate possible. Try asking your travel agent /driver in Delhi if he has any contacts in Varanasi.
I’ve looked at flights on Air India, Jet Airways, Spice Jet, Orbitz and Vayama. Is there any other website I should look at for flights?
yaatra.com and makemytrip.com (make sure you go to the Indian sites of these websites - I've bought tickets from these websites in INR using a USD credit before). Looks like if you combine airlines, you might be able to get to Pune slightly earlier
I do live in the same town and do know him…
Cool. The next time you run into him, let him know hyderago is a huge fan of his.