So our last day in Varanasi and the heavens opened. It started raining and did not stop for 24 hours. When I say rain I mean in the sense of millions of taps being turned on overhead on full. The roads became waist deep (lovely what with all the 'deposits' on the road). We could not leave the hotel so our departure to Nepal was delayed whilst we waited for the rain to stop and the water to start draining away into the Ganges. Apparently it was exceptional weather,the monsoon has finished and the locals said that even in the monsoon it does not rain like this for so long. It rained so much that our hotel room (which was basic to say the least and had an insect problem) got flooded and my bags got a bit wet which was not very good news.
So after a 8 hour delay we managed to escape Varanasi on some four wheel drive jeeps. The city was badly flooded but daily life seemed to be going on as normal with the tut tuts running (although the passengers were getting wet as the water level was higher than the bottom of the vehicle). It took us 11 hours to get to Lumbini in Nepal. The journey was tiring and uncomfortable. We got to the Indian Nepalese border about 10.30pm and the Indian passport checker was sitting behind a mosquito net dressed in his underwear. It would have been a great photo but there were men with guns so did not seem the right thing to do. On arrival in Nepal we were badly bitten by the mossies whilst waiting for our visas to be processed.
However the next morning we visited Lumbini which is the birthplace of Buddha. A very serene and claming place but also a very sweaty and hot place. Some of the architecture dated back to 2BC (or so the sign said). We touched the actual stone where Buddha was born but it was so hot at that point the significance was rather lost on us.
 |
| Outside Buddha's birthplace in Lumbini |
 |
| Contemplating the teachings of Buddha |
No comments:
Post a Comment