Hotel Siddartha Vihar Gaya

... as high as in 2nd class. As she was getting up the damn India book fell of and onto an old woman holding a cup of chai, she was just yelling at her in Hindi and some guy was translating saying that she was like "my sari is all dirty now! Im all dirty!". I was just like what are we supposed to do about it! It was an accident! I told the guy to tell her that we were sorry, and it turned out ok we were just glad she wasn't there in the morning. The train ride was horribly long though ...

... the cost of 100 rupees!) to hand out to the begging. That was hard. I had to put my NY hat back on and just look ahead, chanting to myself that this was not the best way to help them and that it just encourages them to beg more. There are other orgs that can better help them and to give my money there. So once up the hill I went into the cave. Its quite small but if you've ever been in a cave before, you can appreciate its also quite peaceful. Time stands still. It ...

... a number of ads for woman's face whiteners in Delhi... But in their Sarees, India women look so *vibrant*, delicate, sophisticated, and elegant. I'm jealous we don't have anything like that in our culture. Maybe a really classy (but not pretentious) woman along 5th Avenue is the closest? Even with the hustle and bustle of poo and mud covered streets, these women in sarees glide down the side of the road with such elegance, centeredness and grace that it astounds me. It ...

... and monasteries. A major point of transmission for the Dharma, the site is now just a reminder of what once took place here. The next day I headed for the south end of town where the Buddha had spent much time living in a cave on Vulture's Peak before his enlightenment. Rather than pay to watch a horse get whipped for 15 minutes I decided to walk the five kilometers and every step along the way I had at least a couple of curious locals tagging ...

Just a quick entry from Bodhgaya. Mahabodhi Temple is where Buddha first became enlightened and formulated his philosophy of life. Just as in Sarnath, a part of the original Bodhi Tree which is now in Sri Lanka was brought to Bodhgaya and now flourishes. Under the tree there is a shrine that marks the exact ...

... forehead dots" in oder to intimidate and confuse them. whoo hooo Bodhgaya is not very big, but rich of kids (like everywhere in India) so I think the news will spread and we'll have a very unfair number of opponents tomorrow... For the rest we'll do some sightseeing before... temples, walking in Buddha's footsteps etc.Bodhgaya is not as packed and loud as Varanasi and it's got its very own charming spirit. Also the weather was so ...

... to the school and was invited to teach a class. There were no instructions or guidelines, only a gesture to get in front of the class, so I started writing English sentences on the board and the children would recite them. Eventually this evolved into grammar exercises as I was trying to gauge what the kids knew and what would challenge them. After the lesson I talked to Nikesh about teaching regularly for a longer period and his reply was "as you like ...

... seven times. For seven days the Buddha continued to meditate beneath the tree without stirring from his seat and for six weeks more remained in the vicinity. During the second week he walked up and down, lotus flowers springing from his footsteps, and pondered whether or not to teach. This was later represented by the chankramanar jewel walk, a low platform adorned with eighteen lotuses, which now runs close and parallel to the north side of the Mahabodhi Temple ...

... meditation cells. The small concrete rooms, about 1m by 2m, serve to cut you off from any worldly stimulation and encourage you instead to remain focussed on exploring the vastness of the mind. Five days meditation passes in the blink of an eye, and despite encouragement to stay at the centre, we both feel satisfied that we have gained significant benefit from our short course and opt to face the outside world again with refreshed self-awareness ...

Destination 115: km76'204 Calcutta war bestimmt nicht die Stadt zum wohlfuehlen. Vorallem die aufsaessigen Bettler machten einem das Leben schwer. Trotzdem war die Stadt so schlimm wie man immer behauptet. Hier im Norden nimmt der Verkehr wieder die haessliche Form des Horrorverkehrs an, wie damals vor Goa. Es liegt definitiv an diesem Indien- Chaos auf den Strassen im Norden die das Reisen nun sehr schwierig und gefaehrlich ...