Escaping to Zen and tribal tranquility
Trip Start
Feb 27, 2006
1
5
13
Trip End
Mar 29, 2006
Bhopal and Sanchi,
India
Monday, March 6, 2006
Three hours later, I ventured into the outside din and found the right bus to Sanchi, bumping along the terrible roads but at least there were signs of resurfacing. Sanchi is a small village about 2 hours drive away from Bhopal. On the hill above the streets is one of the most important Buddhist sites in India. An exhausting walk up the hill in the midday sun, after being invited into the Chemist shop's home for a meal with them, I took in the stillness of my surroundings - just me, some security guards and a few men doing restoration work
Bhudda at Sanchi
. I spent a calm few hours taking in the stunning countryside views and the ruins dating back to third century BCE built during Asoka's reign and then added to over the immediate centuries. The site was rediscovered in early 19th century. There were a number of small stupas (domes) and a Great Stupa with four intricately carved stone 'gates' showing scenes from Buddha's life. Also at the site were monatries and temples. It was a great escape from the India of today. I then waiting at the train station for 2 hours but the train was running late and no-one else seemed concerned, no announcements were made, everyone just lolled around sitting in family groups on the platform for hours! Finally making it back to Bhopal, I went to the computerised reservation centre to try and get a ticket for later in the week. Everything was written in Hindi, so I joined a queue, after filling in the form, and was pushed into the ladies queue (which was largely made up of women whose husbands couldn't be bothered to queue.) Not that there is really any kind of queue more a scrum for who can get their form through the little counter window first... and the ladies queue shares a counter with a male queue anyway. Luckily I was the last to be served and all the men had to go away empty handed!
The next day, I wandered around the chowk (market) in the old town, but felt a little too conspicuous for comfort and it was swarming in flies feeding on the rotting fruit and veg piles
Bhuddist Stupa
. So I went down to TT Nagar and collected my salwar suit and then (Miss Shopaholic that I'm not - at home), I went and got some more material - turquoise jewlled one. An autorickshaw took me up into the more upmarket part of the city - Shamla Hills, where I visited a facinating open air 'museum' spread out over a vast area called the Tribal Habitat. Basically different tribal dwellings built on the site by tribal people acorss the whole of India, all quite different - some with tribal paintings and symbolic markings, nearly all made from mud, straw and cow dung. Once a year, tribes are brought in to repair them. Once again, it was only me wandering around the 3km site and then took a guess on how to get to the lake, where I treated myself in a posh hotel to an 'expensive' meal of fish and chips - indian style!Picking up my newest turquoise Salwar suit on the way back, I got off the bus at Hamidia Road and after making a call back home, was startled (as was he) to see another western face - a guy from Slovenia - who really hated Bhopal!
Getting back to my hotel, I discovered that there had been two bombs exploded in the holiest Indian town of Varanasi with 20 dead.... I'll need to keep an eye on the situation in Uttar Pradesh (where Varanasi is based) as I'm due to go there in a week or so and there is often inter-religion tension and they think this might have been the situation with these bombs.
Comments
How to relax
Dinah, after the year you have had you have a really strange concept of how to relax though I must confess that reading your trabel blog makes me want to explore again though I htink those days are gone for me for a number of yeads at least!! Anyway, I can recommend a few very nice hotels in India though you would have to agree to spend a few days 'by the pool', somehow I think that the recommendations would be lost on you!! Bev is right, I think you are mad then again her idea of fun is to go 'western style' horseriding - go figure!! Great to see all is going well - enjoy!!