Bodhgaya

We had arranged to rendezvous with friends from New Zealand so we hopped on a train to the meeting place - Bodhgaya.

We'd said goodbye to Adam and Liv two years ago in a dark and dingey alleyway in Wellington. Since then they've been teaching English in China and traveling.

Bodhgaya is the most revered of all Buddhist sacred sites because it's the home of the Bodhi tree - the tree under which Buddha achieved nirvana. Now when we heard this we were amazed and couldn't believe that its the same tree. We were right, the existing tree is a fifth generation descendant (great great great grandchild) of the original Bodhi tree and was brought in from Sri Lanka.

The tree grows at the back of the Mahabodhi Temple which excellently is free. Photo below: Dan, Adam and Clint standing tall infront of the Bodhi tree.


After spending some quality time catching up with Adam and Liv it was time for an activity day. We chose the Mahakala or (Dungeshwari) caves, where Buddha did severe pennance. After years of extreme self-denial at the caves he realised the futility and wandered down to Bodhgaya. Hiring bicycles we made our way out to the caves.


After an impromptu match of cricket which the NZers didn't do well in, the locals kindly directed us to the wrong hill. After climbing the steps, and there were alot, it was so hot we had to stop for a rest.


Battling on in the heat of the day and with Adams bike continually breaking down we finally made it to the right place. It was smaller than we expected - but slightly larger than the picture below suggests!


Back at the Mahabodhi Temple we found a concrete pillar where devotees try and flick coins onto the top, presumably to receive good karma. The top is pointed meaning that it's very hard. We failed to get any coins to stay up so didn't receive any good karma. We did however knock down a few coins while trying to get ours up - so we used those coins to buy good karma via the donation box.


While in Bodhgaya we enjoyed many cups of the really nice chai the Indians have. At less than $0.20 a go you can't ask for better value.


Random Fact: Some Indian men refuse to age gracefully. Instead they opt to dye their hair a bright red colour. It's always obvious and often entertaining. But then again if it's good enough for 'Big B' why not your average Rajjy?

Highlights:
-Enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. Simply chilling out under the tree was enough for us to achieve our own version of Nirvana- a great way to escape the hustle and bustle which is India
- Nice village life. On the way to the caves we rode through a village which was full of nice people. Everyone was happy to see you and waved and smiled as you went past - nobody asked for money, it was almost surreal after the othersides of India that we have seen
- Talking fast to other New Zealanders. It was great to have some fast paced conversation with friends knowing that what we were saying was being understood!
- Adam leading some rooftop yoga under the star light. The '5 tibetans' will serve us well if we can do them regularly!

Lessons Learned:
- You can spend the night at the Mahabodhi Temple under the Bodhi tree. We saw Japanese tourists erecting little individual pop tents - classic.
- Everyone tries to collect fallen leaves from the Bodhi tree. Watch out or you'll lose a hand.
- If you're bike is broken the locals will try to fix it, their tool of choice is always a rock. Don't let them near the bike (this will be very hard), they'll only make it worst!
- Leave a key somewhere obvious and it will walk off. A local will then find it and want a reward - all our kind man received was praise and wishes of good karma