Whirling and stopping

Since my last post, I feel like I’ve spent just as much time in transit as I have in the destinations. It’s all about the journey, but I’m happy to be slowing down a bit now. Here’s a brief synopsis of the last week or so….

Haridwar: spent the evening with a friend visiting the Har ki Pauri ghat (sadly, we missed the Ganga Aarti ceremony), dodging beggars and eating some great and affordable food. Har ki Pauri sits on the bank of the Ganges River and is a major center of Haridwar. It was lovely in the evening, and seems like it would be a very peaceful place during the day. We found a great restaurant and had a very flavorful dinner of sweet lassis, dal makhani, and aloo gobhi that left us too full for dessert. 

I left Haridwar on an overnight train to Lucknow, and managed to get a general ticket to Gonda Junction, landing after dark with no hotel reservations. The three hotels that seem to exist in Gonda think quite highly of themselves. The first I went to was full, the second wanted a ludicrous amount for a room that was downright scary, and the third slightly less scary and expensive. Deal. The next morning I set off in a taxi for…

Sravasthi: the Buddha spent many years here, and half of his teachings seem to have been given from here. Yet it has mostly escaped the hordes of tourists that come to the other holy places, making it a quiet escape. The main draw is Jetavana, a park that was purchased for the Buddha by an ardent lay supporter. There are monastery remains there, and a quiet pleasant feel to the grounds.

Site of the Buddha’s dwelling at Jetavana

My taxi driver may have had less peaceful intentions. First he drove to a temple that was closed. I explained in my limited Hindi that I wanted to go to Jetavana. He played dumb, and started getting a little friendly, putting his hand on my arm a few times. I went outside to do walking meditation. After a while he came out to talk to me and noticed the sprinkling of white in my hair. Once he found out my age (he was in his early 20s), that put the fire out on his amorous intentions, and he behaved like a gentleman for the rest of the trip, even bringing me to meet his family at the end. Age does have its privileges!

My amorous young driver (on right) and his family.

 Next I was off to Varanasi, but couldn’t get a direct train. I managed to go to Gorakhpur, but then spent the night in the women’s waiting area while waiting for a 5:30am train for the final leg. I discovered the next morning that I had been locked in the room, but no one bothered me during the night! After being let out, I took the train to Varanasi, then quickly escaped to the nearby town of…

Sarnath: the city of the Buddha’s first sermon, the turning of the wheel of Dhamma. Also named Deer Park in history, and there are still deer (although enclosed in pens). It’s now a beautiful park in which to contemplate the Buddha’s first teachings. The first sermon is chanted daily here, near the statues of the Buddha teaching the group of five that were previous followers.

Varanasi: My capacity for tolerating crowded cities is limited, and I had been here before. But there’s so much history here that it’s hard to stay away. So the next day I returned from Sarnath, roamed the ancient labyrinthine streets and ghats, and watched the mesmerizing Ganga Aarti – a ceremony with incense, bells, fire, and chanting that draws hundreds if not thousands of people each night.

The next day I went to the station to catch a 10:20 train to Gaya. The fog outside was like pea soup, and I soon discovered that the fog was keeping all of the trains from being on time. My 10:20 departure became 1. Then 5. At eight o’clock we finally left. But in the meantime I found a great nearby chai shop, got to chat with some locals, elbow my place in an enquirey “line”, sing lullabies to a baby, read a book, and just be, watching humanity in front of me. It was all good.

I made it to Bodhgaya, where I’ll stay put for a while. It deserves its own post, so stay tuned.