Day 38 - Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddah, Dauney, home stay village Barauli

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Day 38 - Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Buddah, Dauney, home stay village Barauli

Wow, the most amazing scenery out of the hotel room window starts the day! The view of the mountains in the distance is just so picturesque.

I didn't sleep well last night. It's so hot, and I was battling with getting the air con sorted out! The bed looked lovely, but was like a wooden plinth.

It's an easy 10am start today. I had toast and coffee for breakfast. I feel a bit wobbly today, not sure if it's the heat, too much sun, the lack of sleep, or my head injuries, so going to be extra, extra careful today!

After breakfast, Anna and I went back over to reception to meet with Anu, ready to leave. The sweat was absolutely pouring off me! But no one else! I acknowledge onto that thought about wishing we sweat fat instead of water; I would be such a skinny bird now... lol, but no, I'm still a fat bird sweating... Ha ha

We are heading out for Lumbini, the birth place of Lord Sakyamuni Buddah. Anu said we have about an hour drive to the first stop. We all get settled on the minibus, as the cool air con takes control of the temperature, I started to feel a bit better! Lisa is sleeping, Bernie is reading, Anna is hidden underneath her stolen blanket watching Cinderella on the iPad! I am just relaxing, with my feet up, appreciating feeling better than I did when I got up this morning!

We arrive at Buddha Heritage Park. Anu explained the story of the birth of the Lord Buddha, how he was born against a stone, the actual stone is still here. Anu explained how the Lord Buddah was kept inside the palace for 27 years to keep him safe from the world.
The one night he left, he saw 4 things; an Oldsmobile, a diseases person, a girl begging and a dead body. This was his first experience of suffering. He decided he needed to learn how to overcome suffering. He went on a spiritual journey for this. Finally, whilst at Bodhi Tree, he became enlightened, and got the answers he needed. He preached his answers, and this built into Buddhism.

We saw the statue Mayadevi, Gautam Sitharth AKA, Lord Buddah, and the stone where he was born. It was a silent, respectful sighting.

We walked through to the other side to where the 25 steps that the mother took before she gave birth. We saw lots of prayer flags around the trees, and padding from tree to tree. The monks were giving a lesson to a group of pilgrims Sri Lankans about the Buddhist ways and beliefs of probing life.

We did a return walk to the minibus, which was seriously proved with the help of a rickshaw ride. Thank you Anu! Not sure if that was because you were tired, or because you were being kind to us, but we all benefitted from your decision! Lol

On the way back to the bus, Anna and I noticed a stall, yes, ..... a shopping opportunity. Anna and I jumped in. We bought a singing bowl each. I've wanted one for ages!

We are now back in the mini bus, happy shoppers, going to the next stop for lunch.

Anu explains that there is a small problem with demonstrators near where we are going, but he also reassured us that it is a problem for the Nepalese people, not us. This small group of people are demonstrating about their disagreement of them not getting their own state. This area is not the main area of demonstrations, it is a small local break off group, it is happening more South East of Nepal. The further we travel, the further away we from it are.

There are some very pretty homes to look at as we drive, lots of colour and fine detail to many of the buildings.

As you constantly pass from countryside to town, it changes from lush green land to building works, colourful houses, shacks and shops, to lush green land, then back to building works, colourful houses, shacks snd shops again. I did try to get the houses on camera, but feel I haven't done them justice! The green parts are so beautiful to daze into. It is very fertile land. Then to add to this, there are the picturesque mountains constantly showing up in the far background. Which is a reminder of where we are.

We start to climb the first taste of the hilly landscape, within seconds, we see a small family of monkeys sitting on a roadside rock. It's one hell of a drop at the right hand side!

We stop at Dauney for lunch. Vegetable thali all round, and very nice it was too. We all completely cleared our plates.

We continue up, and over the hill to the Barauli home stay in Chitwan. This is the GAdventure supported project which benefits the whole community. GAdventures generate business for the project, not taking any of the profit in order to assist with sustainability and growth to this community.

We planned to do a bike ride around the village, but the rain came, only gentle rain. Anu and I were playing around, I threatened to pour water over him, so he pulled me out into the rain, pulling me out, and away from the shelter. We started walking, the rain got heavier. We walked, and laughed our way around the village in the pouring rain. It was such a good feeling.

We jogged back into the village, laughing, we both thoroughly enjoyed it!

Now to prepare for the bike ride. Anu and I were drenched, so nothing else could matter!

Anna, Bernie, Anu, me and the guide set off. By now the heavens had totally opened, throwing everything at us. Light rain, then heavy rain, then really hard rain, with intermittent thunder and lightening, just for good measure! It was awesome. We rode along, laughing, chatting, splashing right through every puddle, we were soaked through to the skin, but it just didn't matter. It all added to the exhilarating experience.

We we then joined by our driver, Ravi and a local guy. The more the merrier!

We came to a gate, we got off our bikes and walked through. We walked over the mud/sand, actually quick sand! We were told about the river and the views by the guide, but it was misty, so we couldn't see anything anyway. Nothing mattered as we were all high on this amazing spell in time! We all jumped around, trying not to sink, losing shoes for a minute, laughing, and just having so much fun.

We returned to our bikes for the return journey. We had just got going, we could here music close by. We followed the music like the rats and the piper. It was a group of locals having a get together, dancing and having fun. We rode up, Anu mentioned joining in.... I was in there, like a shot, giving it my best Bollywood moves, lol. They seemed as happy for me to join them, as I was to be there. The women and girls were clapping, laughing,and encouraging me. Let me point out, I certainly don't need any encouragement! Finally, the girls dragged Anna and Bernie to join in. I danced, and dance, and danced! I danced so much in my soaking wet, now heavy, trousers that as I was dancing, they began to take on the gravity .... Dropping down. Luckily I noticed! Lol

Aw, it was amazing to be so welcomed, by so many people, and having good old fashioned fun, regardless of age, creed, colour, or religion. I love diversity!

We set off back to the village, like drowned rats. OMG.... That whole experience was certainly one I will always remember with such happy thoughts and feelings. I'm feeling so blessed right now.

We had our evening earl of home grown vegetables on a curry with rice, again, I cleared my plate. I'm going to have a beer, then bed. I'm exhausted with happiness today!

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