Our trip to Bodhgaya started with a late train ride that ended with a new friendship (Hi Todd and Anise!) and a rickshaw ride along a dried up river bed. We arrived in Bodhgaya in time to find a room, drink a beer and eat a portion of food we thought was satisfactory.
We woke the next day to frequent trips to the bathroom and nausea. Hey, at least we spent our first days here in a nice, clean room. :)
After recuperating, it was time to see the town. Bodhgaya (as mentioned) is the original birth place of Buddhism, where Buddha attained enlightenment after a long term meditation under the Bodhi tree. In the high season (winter) the majority of the town is populated by Tibetan refugees (that are finding solace from the harsh winters in the summer town, Dharmsala) and Buddhist monks of many ethnicity's. There are monasteries of many cultures and countries (Tibet, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Darjeeling, Bhurma etc) all situated around the grand park and stupa (monument of remembrance) around the Bodhi tree (a secondary original, planted a few hundred years ago from a seedling of the original, now resides in Sri Lanka) Restaurants are primarily temporary tent structures erected to feed the masses of monks/refuges/tourists in the high season, and most serve Tibetan/Chinese/Indian. We were looking forward to the new culinary experience to be had here! The city is flocked with colors of burgundy, orange and yellow as the monks walk from place to place, from monastery to the park.
The inside of the park (Bodhi tree and area) is a wonderful, peaceful and clean place of an oasis. We spent many hours on many days within this compound, reading and writing. As Buddha's path to enlightenment was completed over many weeks, there are areas designated within the park that are in remembrance of his steps. Throughout the day you can watch monks (and others) recreate his path while in meditation. We visited the monument at dark/dusk, and were treated to an amazing experience of sight, sound and smell. Hoards of individuals from many of the monasteries/classrooms come during this time to light incense, sit in groups and chant. The air is thick with religion, with belief - and peace.
...
Bodhgaya's spiritual centre and spiritual side of life was that of beauty - but the outskirts were just as heavy, just as daunting. We have already covered the 'negatives', so there is no need to repeat.... but it is a theme that has repeated itself in our surroundings. No good without the bad, they say.
After a few days of studying, walking the outskirts of the village and daily exercise we were headed to Kolkata (which is where we are currently writing from) We were nervous, as Kolkata is a city of 12 million people and we are here for 7 days (in order to arrange our Visa's) prior to flying to Thailand on Feb 9th. We hadn't had the best experiences with cities - and Kolkata is known for its destitution and difficulties (with a huge portion of the population living below India's poverty line, made up of the multitudes of immigrants/refugees created by the Pakistan (now Bangladesh war) on the border of West Bengal (Kolkata). We are here, and enjoying it. We will update that soon
We woke the next day to frequent trips to the bathroom and nausea. Hey, at least we spent our first days here in a nice, clean room. :)
After recuperating, it was time to see the town. Bodhgaya (as mentioned) is the original birth place of Buddhism, where Buddha attained enlightenment after a long term meditation under the Bodhi tree. In the high season (winter) the majority of the town is populated by Tibetan refugees (that are finding solace from the harsh winters in the summer town, Dharmsala) and Buddhist monks of many ethnicity's. There are monasteries of many cultures and countries (Tibet, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Darjeeling, Bhurma etc) all situated around the grand park and stupa (monument of remembrance) around the Bodhi tree (a secondary original, planted a few hundred years ago from a seedling of the original, now resides in Sri Lanka) Restaurants are primarily temporary tent structures erected to feed the masses of monks/refuges/tourists in the high season, and most serve Tibetan/Chinese/Indian. We were looking forward to the new culinary experience to be had here! The city is flocked with colors of burgundy, orange and yellow as the monks walk from place to place, from monastery to the park.
The inside of the park (Bodhi tree and area) is a wonderful, peaceful and clean place of an oasis. We spent many hours on many days within this compound, reading and writing. As Buddha's path to enlightenment was completed over many weeks, there are areas designated within the park that are in remembrance of his steps. Throughout the day you can watch monks (and others) recreate his path while in meditation. We visited the monument at dark/dusk, and were treated to an amazing experience of sight, sound and smell. Hoards of individuals from many of the monasteries/classrooms come during this time to light incense, sit in groups and chant. The air is thick with religion, with belief - and peace.
...
Bodhgaya's spiritual centre and spiritual side of life was that of beauty - but the outskirts were just as heavy, just as daunting. We have already covered the 'negatives', so there is no need to repeat.... but it is a theme that has repeated itself in our surroundings. No good without the bad, they say.
After a few days of studying, walking the outskirts of the village and daily exercise we were headed to Kolkata (which is where we are currently writing from) We were nervous, as Kolkata is a city of 12 million people and we are here for 7 days (in order to arrange our Visa's) prior to flying to Thailand on Feb 9th. We hadn't had the best experiences with cities - and Kolkata is known for its destitution and difficulties (with a huge portion of the population living below India's poverty line, made up of the multitudes of immigrants/refugees created by the Pakistan (now Bangladesh war) on the border of West Bengal (Kolkata). We are here, and enjoying it. We will update that soon
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