Day 9 - Varanasi - Another Room! Goddess Festival

We switched rooms again today. :). We now have a spacious blue room (previous rooms were green and then pink) with high ceilings and two screened windows facing the river. There is a shared balcony that runs the length of the guest house outside our room. This is like the Four Seasons compared to our previous room in the dungeons.  I shudder just thinking back to that.

Kevin and I have made friends with many of the workers at this guest house. We seem to be the only guests that talk to them and know them all by name. They are all very nice and all are facinated with my iPhone and the videos that it can take. Many of the workers work and live here. They sleep on these little cots that line the creepy, bug filled hallways of this place. Basically they sleep off the sides of the open courtyard. Most of the workers come from other areas and have wives and children they don't often get to see.

So far we have met a ton of people who all LOVE Kevin. Amy suggested he become a Bollywood star. :). Kevin thinks people are fixated on his large Buddha belly. LOL. Everyone mentions that Kevin is big and strong. Some of the male workers here have waists the size of Kevins neck!! Haha!

This is Anil, boatman, brother of Rahul, uncle of Raksha.

These are the local police in Varanasi.

This is Amit,  manager of Ganpati Guest House.

Below is a photos of Bajo (bah-joo), a worker at the guest house who would come looking for Keh-von, every day. :)

The animals of Varanasi, including this one legged bird:

Today was also some kind of Goddess festival.  There was a temple at the main ghat that was filled to the rafters with worshippers.  People lined up around the block bringing offerings of food and such to the temple.

Here are some additional photos I took this morning just putzing around.  There is something interesting at every corner. :)