Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Birthplace of Buddah

Lumbini is the birth place of Buddah, who was born here on a full moon in 623 B.C. And we were like the Magi traveling over field and fountain, moor and mountain, following yonder van. The fields were wonderful! Lush expanses of various grains, women in bright saris bent over working and children herding goats and buffalo. The mountains were hell! Narrow, twisting roads with mud and rock slides every few kilometers that we were forced to ride over, through or around while dodging oncoming traffic. To make matters worse, we suck in the diesel fumes and are covered in dust from our van and the trucks and buses. On our final stretch, we rode about 15 km on a very rough, broken road which took almost an hour to ride. Then, Eureka! A paved road! We get on the throttle and dash the last few miles.

Bill often makes jokes about going to see another pile of rocks and that’s just what this turns out to be. This is a World Heritage site and is primarily an archaeological dig in progress. The main attractions are a stone marking the place where he was born, a tree his mother held and a pool in which the baby Buddha was bathed. For us the real attraction is people watching. There are monks in their saffron robes, people from all over the world, beggars and believers. We strolled around the grounds and visited several of the many temples built by various countries. These are beautiful, peaceful places with many images of Buddha. Tucked away beside the Nuns Temple, we found the Pilgrims Rest Cottage Restaurant where we enjoyed some cold drinks and listened to the ancient owner give a history of the Temple. On our way out of the grounds, a little girl about four years old, latched onto Ross and kept singing him a song over and over. He melted and made his first contribution of baksheesh. She then moved on to Steve and it was really cute to see this tiny waif walking along side this big, tall guy and the two of them singing together. Naturally, she got another donation.

Thanks for all your comments on the blog. We love reading them!

To answer Wayne's question: We are not using our GPSs for several reasons: First, we just follow our van which is a lot easier then trying to navigate on our own. Secondly, riding requires such strong concentration that you really can’t take your eyes off the road for a second so the GPS would be too distracting. Third, we’re in Nepal and we don’t have those maps.

3 comments:

Wayne said...

Thanks for keeping us up to date. Thanks for answering my question. I can't follow you on the India mapping program I found because it doesn't do Nepal either. It sounds like you'll be able to take any bike anywhere by the time youm get home -- an LT on a single track?

keep writing and stay safe

wayne

Eric said...

Just thought I would tell you what the poor people are doing ....lol
They get up in the morning and go to work, they come home and look for the latest updates from the India Butt Busters, then they go to bed dreaming about being world travellers......Repeat .....lol

Love you guys,stay safe

Eric

Anonymous said...

Hi Steve Ruth Ann and all, So glad to get your latest tale of your travels. I can almost feel all the bumps and potholes. What pioneers you are in this adventure. keep the news coming. Aunt Shirley