So I have not really ventured out into Varanasi too much since the first few days I was here. I have been content with just having music lessons and bumming around. And I have gotten comfortable around here. But today, I decided I would try to see some temples. After breakfast with Devi I headed to a sitar lesson, and learned a new raag today called yaman. Then soon after I had a vocal lesson, which I am really enjoying, it is a bit of a challenge too, but I welcome it. Ran into a guy who really wanted me to go look at sitars with him in the hopes that I would buy and he would get a fat commission. It got really annoying pretty quick and I found my way out of it after lots of rejecting. People do not like the word no around here sometimes. So I wondered on the ghats for a bit then decided to grab a cycle rickshaw and try to go to Durga temple which I had heard about. The ride there was incredibly entertaining. My drivers bike was not in the best shape and he kept stopping and hammering something into place. Pretty soon we stopped for 15 minutes at the rickshaw repair station and they did some maintenance work. I did not mind the wait there was enough to look at nearby, as always in this country. So we finally got there, and it was a perfect time because they were doing evening worship so there was lots of people there and music and bells. The place was really cool. Huge red towering structures. Red for Durga the goddess. I sat and watched everything for a bit. Then went to another temple closeby, but I made a mistake, thought my driver was someone else, so I went with another cycle, felt really bad I never paid the other guy. And the new guy had a fake leg and used pity to get 30 rupees out of me. Anyway, I saw this other temple that was quite nice, and had inscriptions from the Ramayana all over the place, it must have been dedicated to Rama. Then the monkey temple. Which had some huge trees inside it built into the temple itself. Monkeys were everywhere overhead fittingly. Then I took a shared auto rcikshaw back with a few locals. For the price you could not beat it. Saw the evening ceremony on the ghats again, then went to dinner at this restaurant that has free music. Pretty good musicans too. A sarangi player was there tonight. Really beautiful string instrument played with a bow. They played a raga which I started to learn today, which I guessed. Then he told me he was also from the Mishra family, after I told him who my teacher here was. And he played Bhopali for me after I told him I had learned it. A real treat. So a good day overall, and I am glad I went out exploring a bit more. I am noticing how well I am fairing in the roads these days. I am walking through like a local, in and out of cows and traffic no problem. It is kind of a trip. Anyway, I am tired and need to sleep.Till next time.
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