The Royal Residency Bodh Gaya

... infested hole. But it was either that or curl up on the pavement in front of the train station with the rest of the masses.

Fortunately, my arrival was the only bad part of my time spent in Bodhgaya. From that point on things got a lot easier and more enjoyable in one of the most important places in the world if you are a Buddhist.

It was about 2,500 years ago when a prince in his mid-thirties by the name of Sidhartha Gautama meditated ...

... the air conditioning. The municipal power kicks in again after a few minutes and the generator shuts off. The result is that the room is never very cool. Around 5pm when the temperature cooled off a bit we walked around the town. Since this is one of the most holy Buddhist holy cities, we decided to walk around and see a few temples. The closest temple is sponsored by the Chinese Buddhists. Typical of the Chinese style the temple is very colorful ...

... hrs) we went to a mid range hotel restaurant to sample some of the local grub in style, as we had saved digs money by not sleeping on the bus for 9 hrs. We have both decided, after other travellers advice, to 'go veggie' for this part of the trip ie India as the meat is suspect (not difficult to believe when you see the stuff sitting in the sun covered in flies & worms), and because the veggie food is great and varied. Got recommended some stuffed mushrooms and ...

... driver came with us. It was a pretty good hike up a windy road. He was funny, it looked like he did this all the time even though we knew he didn't. He was wearing dress shoes that were really worn down. But he just walked with a swagger all the way up. We ended up taking funny posed pictures with him too. Our second day in Jaipur was interesting. We were over looking at the old palaces and wanted to get traditional Rhajastani shoes at one of the Bazaars. We walked around for hours ...

i wrote these words last summer, and now i can truly say, i have - for 10 days in fact, in the very place the buddha gained enlightenment 6000 years ago! gordon and i decided to try a silent vipassana retreat, following a schedule that ran from 6am until 10pm, of sitting, standing and walking meditation alternating in ~45min intervals. of course there were breaks and meals (porridge for breakfast, 2 curries, rice, dal and salad at lunch, fruit and chai at dinner and ...

... my fluids up, I've taken to putting two tablespoonfuls of table salt in my nalgene and drinking boiled hot water with ginger, honey and lemon. I'm still doing great. ;) As you can see, the internet access will be spotty for the next two weeks - I'm not sure what the access is like in Bhutan, but we'll see. I happened to find a good computer in Bodhgaya so that was lucky (most are pretty **** and the keys stick). Not good for travel writing... So where was I... My last ...

... except thousands of Tibetan monks who are making the annual pilgramage for teachings from the Karmapa, one of their highest llamas. The last two days Matt and I had reached that point in our travels where we were at our wit's end with the noise, the smog, the stank and the piles of trash - as Matt put it, he was "OVER IT !!" Just as we were plotting our possible escape, we discovered a beautiful sanctuary just outside of town, with ...

... me his favorite mantra. He also showed me Lord Buddhas favorite places in the gardens, and where he spent his time meditating. It was overall a very nice experience, but aside from buddhism, the town doesnt have much to offer. There are some cave temples in the mountains about 20 km's away which were an excellent motorcycle ride, but other than that, the dusty little town really only had ...

... car. The sheets of paper usually taped outside each car had been ripped free in the breeze and the car numbers didn't seem to be arranged in any logical order as we walked up and down the platform. After a few hectic minutes we found the right car and settled in. As the train started rolling Tom went to the opened door to have a cigarette and I sat and watched the moving scenery transition from the city of Varanasi to the rice fields of ...

... although the species of tree differs with each buddha). The present bodhi tree is a descendant of the original, for the tree has been destroyed deliberately on at least three occasions. King Ashoka, initially hostile to Buddhism, ordered it to be cut down and burned on the spot, but when the tree sprang up anew from the flames his attitude was transformed. In deep regret for his destruction, Ashoka lavished so much personal care and attention on the new tree that ...