Onwards... to Varanasi/Benares

View from the hotel balcony in Varanasi.

Well, we weren’t sad to leave Gaya.

Typical street in Gaya.

Typical open sewer in Gaya.

Before that, though, Bodhgaya was nice – especially the Mahabodhi Temple complex and the area right around the Bodhi Tree, where the Buddha was enlightened – but with so many other temples from other Buddhist countries and a constant flow of people in and out, the town did have a bit of an Epcot Center feel to it. To get there (if you’re not flying in to the airstrip) you have to hire an autorickshaw from the station in Gaya and then it’s a rough ride through town followed by a relatively smooth one 13 kms along the (dry) river’s edge to this Buddhist “mecca.” Once there, we had some hot tea to warm up (by the way, has everyone noticed that it’s been weeks since I whined about being hot? : ) ), visited a bunch of temples and then headed back to Gaya before it got dark because traveling at night here is dangerous even for the locals, apparently.

Giant Buddha in Bodhgaya.

Ceremony in Bodhgaya.

Flags near Cobra statue.

Two of the many, many monks making the rounds...

Main temple, Bodhgaya.

Part of the temple complex.

Meditating near the Bodhi tree.

Buddha shrine (a lady was vacuuming the carpet when we were there...)

On our way back to the (nasty) hotel, we stopped to do some internet at a café that we thought was much closer to where we were staying than it actually was and so in the end, there we were, trudging along the dark roads, getting an even closer look at a place we were all ready to leave. Good news, though: we did pass a liquor kiosk and managed to pick up some Kingfisher to drink while eating chips, cookies and puffed lentils and watching Jaws 3 in fuzzy black and white. Note: the fact that when we got back the main light in the room had stopped working was actually a blessing in disguise because it made the grime charmingly decadent… ha!

Up at 4am or so to catch the train to Varanasi. The train was some 40 mins late but we had reserved seats in Sleeper class (the class below 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd “climate controlled, ie: “AC and heating” but above General, which features wooden seats and overcrowding). We were relatively comfy (although since the windows didn’t close totally, it was pretty cold) sitting across from a nice old Tibetan couple on their way to Sarnath to see the Dalai Lama. After a ride of some 6 hours, we were in Varanasi and being helped by the extremely friendly man who works at the tourist information office in the station. Standing over in that corner has the added advantage of the tourist police keeping the touts away, which is nice when you’re tired.

A bit of a mix-up with our room reservation at a nice place on Scindhia Ghat but that was resolved and after many, many stairs (poor Denise!), we were happily installed with an amazing view over the Ganges and the nearby ghats (piers/steps into the water).

Lalita Ghat

Sitting on the ghat.

Me and my new friends. (I took a picture for another family and then the daughter of this one came up and asked for a picture with me [!]. A big round of photos then took place.)