From Nepal to India Feb-March 2015
Part II- India
Chapter 3 – Bodh Gaya
Day 24 Mosquito Man
So, so far I’ve been sick all night and our train is 3 hours late. Not the best way to start the day…
Our next destination is Bodh Gaya. That’s the place where, 2600 years ago, the Prince Siddharta Gautama attained enlightenment and became the Buddha. It’s supposed to be a quiet little town, filled with temples and monasteries.
But for the moment, we’re only in Gaya. A brash, loud and dirty rathole, 13 km away from Bodh Gaya.
Already, we’re surrounded by rickshaw drivers, fighting each other to see who is going to rip us off first. We get on an overpriced tuk tuk for a very bumpy ride. On the way, we pick up a monk and a student. Both are asking us a lot of questions, but I still feel sick (especially on these damn roads) and I don’t want to talk at all.
Eventually, we arrive to our hostel, at the end of a dirt track.
The first thing I notice once we are in the reception is that the walls are covered with mosquitoes.I hate mosquitoes! First of all, I am a mosquito magnet. For them, my blood tastes like French red wine. So, everywhere I go, I’m always one of the first to get bitten. But here, in this country, who knows what kind of diseases they can carry? In Varanasi, I had to fight off some of them already, but they usually come out at night. Here, it’s 8am and it’s like they own the place. I have a really bad feeling about this hotel. But we’ve already booked for three nights. And for an expensive price too – 2000 rupees/night. We go to our room and I try to sleep for a couple of hours. I say try to, because the room happens to be near a construction site…
Bodh Gaya is quite a small town, but it’s not as peaceful as expected. Around the temple, dozens of street shops, souvenir stalls, rickshaws, and the usual invasion of tourist paraphernalia. When in Varanasi, we had tried to find another hotel online to book a cheaper room, but no luck. Since I’m not feeling too well, we won’t go very far today. So I have the idea to walk around and look for a cheaper place by ourselves.
But first, let’s eat something. One of the restaurants recommended by the guide is Mohammad’s Restaurant. It says that it’s not « flashy », but it has « some of the best food in town ». Also it’s cheap.
Indeed, the inside is not much to look at. But the food really is delicious. Also, during my travel, I don’t know how many times I’ve been to restaurants, that advertise mint ice cream, or mint tea, or mint shake. Only for them to tell me that they don’t have mint. Here, they do have mint. And fresh one too. That’s already three stars in my book
As I read in the guide – and now on the menu itself – Mohammad is more than an excellent cook, he is also the owner of a guesthouse.
If the hotel is as good as the food, it’s worth trying to get a room there.
We ask one of the waiters if he knows where the house is. He tells us to follow him. We get inside the local village and we arrive at the house.
It’s a small village and most of the locals live in shabby, run down shacks. But others, have real houses. Our hotel is actually pretty neat.
The person who welcomes us at the reception understands English quite well. He shows us a room. It’s basic, but it looks clean.
The bathroom however, is spotless ! The cleanest one I’ve seen in my entire journey so far.
When we hear the price, we can’t believe it. Only 400rupees/night! We still have to spend tonight in the other hotel, since we can’t cancel our reservation on the same day. But we decide to take this room for the following days.
We come back to our current hotel and talk our way through with the owner to get our money back for the next days we have booked the room. He tries to offer us a cheaper room at first , but I say that I’m sick and that it would be more convenient for me to find a place closer to the temples. He believes me – which is not too surprising, given the way I look today.
We spend most of the afternoon inside the hotel. For dinner, we try another cheap restaurant. It’s pretty good too except that I can only manage to drink some soup.
They have the TV on and we watch some kind of over-the-top action/horror/romance/comedy/fantasy. I can’t understand the dialogue, but it is quite entertaining.
Later, back at the hotel, I lie down and watch the end of the movie. Quinn leaves for a while and brings me back some medicine. I am usually able to look after myself by my own means, but it seems that what she gives me works much better. I’m glad she’s here with me.
Day 25 Size Matters
I’ve been bitten by mosquitoes all night. And maybe by something else, because some of the bites are really painful. After a quick shower, I inspect the walls. There’s at least a dozen of mosquitoes in the room. I swat them one by one and blood spurts on the walls. They must have been partying all night long… As if that wasn’t enough, I spot a couple of small spiders crawling along the walls. I feel like I’m gonna throw up. I’m glad we’re leaving this place for good.
On the bright side, my stomach feels much better now - thanks to Quinn and her medicine.
While it’s still early, we decide to go for a walk across town, to see a famous statue of Buddha. Unfortunately, the map in the guide is not that good and we end up going to the complete opposite direction.
We have to get a cycle rickshaw to get to the right place.
However, it’s totally worth the ride. The statue is 25m high. It was unveiled by the Dalai Lama in 1989.
From this angle, with its eyes half-closed, I can’t help but thinking of the Sphinx, in The Neverending Story.
I doubt that the Buddha can shoot laser through his eyes,though…
As we are about to leave, a dozen of tourists want to take a picture with us. At the time of writing, we are probably on the Facebook page of a few Buddhist monks…
The giant statue is located in a remote area, surrounded by temples and monasteries –hence the name Temple Street. We don’t have time to visit them all, but we still have a nice look around.
This one is an old Japanese monastery. I wanted to look inside because I expected something old, with wooden floor and paper screen doors – like in an old black and white Kurosawa movie. But it’s all sleek marble inside, and you are stopped at the entrance by safety barriers.
This one is a Tibetan monastery – the Karma Temple. I especially like the Wheel of Life at the top.
On the way back, we get on a cycle rickhaw to get back to our hotel.
Of course, we don’t need him to leave us right at the hotel, so I tell him to bring us to the bus station, instead. Which is close enough.
I can tell he doesn’t like me much. And I’m probably right. It’s barely a 10 min ride, but as soon as the road gets a bit steep, he asks me to jump out and walk alongside him, so he can carry Quinn alone.
I walked half of the way, and this guy doesn’t even leave us at the bus station. But he ‘s still bold enough to ask for more than we agreed on. Quinn decides to pay anyway. Whatever…
We get to Mohammad’s Restaurant for some delicious breakfast. I’m finally able to eat with all my appetite now. After that, we pick up our bags and move to our new hotel.
It’s really hot out there today. We decide to lay low inside an Archelogical Museum (a bunch of statues and more mosquitoes). Then, we find an internet cafe and book our train for once we’re back in Chengdu.
In the internet cafe, I see this poster advertising a tour. My Japanese has known better days, but there are some characters I would recognize anywhere‌
The guide says that watching the sunset here, from a bridge, is a great experience. But at dusk, the weather gets cloudy. No luck this time. In our hotel, we meet our neighbour, Carol. She’s a retired old lady from the US, who’s been travelling for many years. She’s quite nice and she entertains us with a couple of interesting stories and anecdotes. I haven’t been feeling well lately, and I’m sure that Quinn would like some new company. We ask Carol if she wants to join us for dinner. She says she has aleady eaten, but she still agrees to come. I’m so hungry tonight. I eat a whole tandoori chicken by myself. After dinner, Quinn tells me that our train tickets to Kolkata, that she got online recently, have still not been confirmed. While I was still in Nepal, she had decided on her own to change our program, so we could visit Khajuraho. But for that, she had to change the date of our departure (we’re supposed to leave in two days, around 7am) and our seats are still on the waiting list.
She feels guilty about it, even if it’s not her fault. She decides to leave to find another solution. When she comes back a few hours later, she tells me that she has found us another train. We are now on 1st class, but leaving tomorrow at 3am… The whole thing is quite confusing but I’ll figure it out. No mosquitoes tonight. I sleep like a log.
Day 26 The Tree of Life
Today, we wake up with a lizard above our heads. I don’t know if it’s a good omen, but it probably eats mosquitoes, so we leave it be.
My stomach feels much better. Unfortunately, it’s now Quinn who’s not well. I guess that the heat, combined with the stress of travel, finally got the better of us.
We decide to stay inside all morning until she gets better. In the meantime, I draw from the balcony.
Local village house – Bodh Gaya
For lunch, we go to our new favorite restaurant. I have some quesadilla. What’s more obvious than having Mexican food in India ?
Quinn checks her online account where she bought the train tickets.
She’s about to cancel our first reservation, while she tells me that now, our seats are confirmed. So, we have two solutions. Either we get 1st class tonight at 3am. Or we leave tomorrow around 7am, on lower class.
Eventually, we decide for the second option.
It’s our last day here. And also our last chance to visit what Bodh Gaya is known for – the Mahabodi Temple. At the entrance, we can choose to pay extra for our cameras. I think it’s gonna be worth it. And boy, was I right!
The Mahabodi Temple is a Unesco World Heritage site. It is there that the Buddha attained enlightenment.
It was built in the 6th century AD. Inside, a 2.5m high gilded image of a seated Buddha. The temple is topped by a 50m high pyramidal spire.
We are both tired, but it’s hard not to enjoy the tour. The temple itself is magnificent, and set in the center of a beautiful garden.
Hundreds of monks and pilgrims, from all over the world, flock to this place to study, pray and meditate.
They use prayer boards to perform endless prostrations.
We really soak up the sacred ambience. Even the dogs are meditating everywhere‌.
Only the squirrels don’t seem to care about what’s going on.
When they’re not praying or meditating, all believers come to worship the image inside the temple and give offerings.
But probably more important than the idol, is the Bodhi Tree, that marks the spot of Buddha’s enlightenment.
Although the tree is only a descendant of the original one, it retains all its spiritual heritage, and it’s considered one of Buddhism’s holiest sites.
This is no doubt one of the most sacred trees on Earth.
And of coure, everybody wants a piece of it.
That’s why, every time a leaf is falling from the tree, children and adults alike hurry to pick it up.
When you’re tired of watching people, you can always have a walk around the gorgeous garden.
The surrounding walls are decorated with prayer wheels and colorful flags.
And finally, there’s a large pool, with a statue of Buddha sitting under a giant snake.
There are also pretty flowers all around.
And finally, you can appreciate statues, sculptures, and messages from the Buddha to meditate upon.
We were very lucky because it was not as sunny – meaning not as hot – as yesterday.
The street outside the temple is not as attractive, however. It’s heartbreaking to see all the beggars sitting on the road. But it’s like this in most places in India.
We won’t visit all the other temples, but the guide says that the Thai monatery is worth a look. The outside is indeed glorious, with gold leaf shimmering from the rooftop.
But for the inside, I’ll never know. It’s so crowded I can’t even get in. I don’t want to even bother. I wait for Quinn outside and admire the statue.
When Quinn comes back, people ask us to take pictures with them, once more.
On the way back, we get a couple of souvenirs and some groceries.
For dinner, I have some meat sauce with french fries. And a glass of fresh beetroot juice. Then we go back to the hotel. But after a while, I get hungry again. So on my own, I get down for dessert – fried ice cream with coconut. It’s perfect…
I found my favorite restaurant in Nepal. This one is my favorite in India. And I ask to meet the chef, Mohammad, to thank him personally.
We’re leaving tomorrow at 5am. It’s gonna be a short night. But at least, I’m not hungry anymore.
Day 28 Purgatory
We get up at 5am. Once again, my stomach hurts. I think I have a problem with trains in this country. I hope for a nice sunrise before we leave, but it’s raining.
Our train to Kolkata is at 7.48am. But we need to get back to Gaya first.. The 30 minute ride to the train station is very bumpy - which doesn’t improve my condition at all. So far, we’re on time. However, when we get to the information office, they tell us that our train is… FIVE hours late !
I just can’t believe it! We go to another office and ask for confirmation. Yes, 5 hours to wait. I want to know what’s going on. Apparently, there was a cyclone in the South of the country and most transports are running late. Well, can’t say that’s not a good reason... All we have to do is find a place to wait - with toilets nearby if possible. The guide recommends a restaurant/hotel right across the street from the station.
We sit there all morning, writing, drawing, reading, and eating from time to time.
At 12, we go back to the station. The train is now supposed to arrive at 4pm. We return to the hotel, read more, and have lunch. We get Wi-fi from the hotel but it barely works. I try to get some news about the cyclone. But here, people don’t speak English. And they don’t look too eager to help either.
At 3.30, I go on my own to have an update. The train is now scheduled for 6pm. The most annoying is that every single time we get to the station, we are harassed by dozens of rickshaw drivers. Hey friend, where you going? Where you going ? Bodh Gaya? Good price, come! I’m tired, sick, angry, but the delays are getting shorter. There’s an actual chance that the train arrives before we have to find a place for the night.
Quinn is looking for some audio adapter. We decide to wander around the area to see if we can find one. The road is dirty and wet and everybody is looking at us in a deranged, disturbing way. We don’t find the adapter and get back to the station at 5.20. This time, the train is announced for 7pm.
At 6.30, we come back with all our bags and decide to wait once and for all on the platform. There, we meet a couple of fellow travellers, who’ve also been waiting for the same train since this morning. At 7.15, the train is said to arrive at 7.48. At 7.48 the train finally shows up. 7.48pm. Exactly 12 hours after it’s original departure time!
Patience is a virtue. My virtue has its limits…
I’m really not in the best of shape. I’m tired, angry, thirsty and hungry. But I can’t eat a lot, and I have to be careful about what I drink.
I feel worn out. My stomach hurts, I have a headache hearing the traffic all day long. I keep complaining about everything, and I’m very easily irritable.
We have reserved bunk beds, but they’re not even in cubicles. We have to sleep in the passageways. And as usual, I get a top bunk and I’m too tall to even sit straight.
At least, Kolkata is the train’s last stop, so I won’t have to ask everyone when we arrive. But then again, maybe the train won’t move till morning. Maybe, we’ll be stuck in this town even longer. Maybe...! No, false alarm. The train starts to move.
We’re now heading to Kolkata, the final part of our journey.