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Published: April 6th 2009
We'll start this post off by explaining how we almost didn't make it out of Varanasi. Since we were sick most of the time, we wanted to spend a few extra days there. The morning of our intended departure (at 10:20am) we were still debating if we should pull Bodhgaya from our trip altogether. We were looking online for routes to Puri, but realized it was going to be much more complicated than we anticipated. We decided to stick to our original plans and go to Bodhgaya (less than an hour before our train was scheduled to leave). In a state of panic we threw all of our gear into our bags and rushed out of the hotel. We were drastically slowed down in the narrow alleys of Varanasi by mobs of people and seemingly threatening cobras being thrusted at us from all sides. We were both quite interested in seeing what they actually did with the cobras, but neither of us wanted to get close enough to find out. If you enjoyed hearing about Rob's fear of the cute little geckos, you would have absolutely loved his reaction when a woman shoved a cobra in his face. I'm prepared to
Bodhi Tree
Buddhists praying under the Bodhi Treeward off "fierce" geckos, but there is no way in hell I was saving anyone from a snake like that.
We forgot that it was the second day of a huge festival during which time people crowded the streets for various celebrations. We finally made it to the main road where we hired the first rickshaw driver we saw. We explained in the best broken english we could that we were in a major hurry, to which he responded "New motor. Very fast." And it was.
We got to the station with only a few minutes to go. Frantically, we ran around trying to find our platform. Typically, this wouldn't be so difficult. However, when you're carrying between 30lbs and 40lbs of weight on your back in 40 degree heat, it can be quite strenuous (don't worry mom!). As we were running through a very busy train station, we both felt like we were on the Amazing Race. We found both the platform and the train and were now trying to find our train cart. All of a sudden we hear the noise every traveler fears when trying to (just barely) catch their train: the train whistle. So,
we started running full tilt, which was no faster than a light jog. Finally, out of breath and hearts racing, we found our cabin and quickly hopped on. Success!
Later that day we made it to Bodhgaya, home of the Bodhi Tree, where Buddha reached enlightenment. Since it was now the tourist off season we were able to barter down a reasonably nice hotel to half the original price. We lazed around the rest of the day with intentions of getting up early the next day. While flipping through the hundreds of tv channels dedicated to mostly music, Indian news, bad Indian sitcoms, and cricket, we found the only english channel to be a movie channel. This channel has proved to be our evening entertainment every night since. Every hotel we have checked into since, the first thing we do is search for Star Movies, with success. We've watched such blockbuster films as Batman Returns, Perfume, Species, The Condemned, Step Up (pathetic, I know), and Rambo 2, 3, and 4 and more. You must understand that India doesn't have a very lively night life. Especially in Bodhgaya (which is dry town) and Puri which doesn't have a lot to
offer other than night markets (and you can only bare to look at so many seashell decorated mirrors).
Our first full day in Bodghaya we went to the Mahabodhi Temple (where the Bodhi Tree is), various Buddhist temples and the Great Buddha Statue. Various countries have built their own style of Buddhist temples here since it's such prominant town in the Buddhist faith. Surrounding the Mahabodhi Temple is a beautiful park with many praying monks and very loud Indian tourists who don't seem to notice the many signs reading "Silence Please". We hung out there for the better part of the morning due to the sheer tranquility of it all.
From there we checked out all the temples in the area. We had quite the experience at the Great Buddha Statue. Since we were both so focused on taking the perfect picture, neither of us noticed the hordes of people crowding around us. When we took our cameras away from our faces, we noticed at least 30 young Indians curiously staring at us. One thing you need to know about the Indian culture is they have no problem staring at you for extended periods of time. But this
was more extreme than ever before since they were standing well within our understanding of personal space. They then started snapping pictures with and with out our consent. We now have a new found sympathy for celebrities who lash out at the paparazzi, as this continued for the remainder of our time in Bodhgaya. At one point, a man even asked me to hold his baby and pose for a picture!
The next day we hired a rickshaw driver to drive us back to Gaya where we would catch our next train. We agreed to the price of Rs 90 which typically ensures you are the only passengers. However, this man decided to go the long way to Gaya and pick up several passengers and drop them off along the way. We were warned that the road between Bodhgaya and Gaya can be quite dangerous at night due to bandits and it was getting darker with each passing minute. Our constant yelling at the driver proved to be futile so Rob and I agreed not to pay the full amount. When we finally arrived at the station, I quickly removed the bags from the rickshaw as Rob gathered the
money. Rob only gave him Rs 80 which really ticked him off. Since I was well aware of Rob's extreme frustration with the constant hassle of day to day life in India, I was concerned a fight may break out. Rob had a few choice words with the man, none of which he understood, and the driver finally moved out of Rob's way.
That night our train was almost an hour late and we couldn't find anyone who spoke enough english to let us know if we missed it or were even at the right platform. So we just waited and hoped for the best. It eventually arrived and we were on our way to Puri.
Puri itself doesn't have much to offer other than a beautiful beach and it's a great location for day trips to Konark. Rob will be sitting out this part of the entry because he doesn't have many good things to say about Puri. He does, however, want me to mention a few of the reasons why: the plus 40 degree heat with humidity levels of 100%, constant headaches (from the heat), the lack of reliable food, and the lack of available rooms
The crowd gathers...
This is just before we were completely surrounded. in decent hotels. He was going to treat us to the Mayfair Beach Resort but there was a confrerence in town which had all of the nicer hotels booked. We ended up having to book the "super deluxe" room at a midrange hotel just so we had a place to stay.
We spent most of our time in Puri by the beach keeping cool from the breeze off the ocean. The beach behind our hotel was practically deserted and we had many calm, quiet and relaxing moments there, which is a very rare thing in India. As far at the food goes, there wasn't anything to write home about other than this heavenly place called The Honeybee. It offered such rarities as fantastic pasta, delicious pizza, and the best pancakes I've ever had in my life. The best non-indian food we've had in all of India. Plus it was air conditioned and they played great music.
For our only day of sight seeing we hired a driver though our hotel to take us to Konark to see the Sun Temple and to Pipli for some cheap shopping. To our disappointment he didn't speak a word of English but
Statue of Buddha
In one of the many temples in Bodhgaya we made out alright. The Sun Temple is a mind blowing piece of architecture dating back to the 13th century with a very interesting history, but we're not going to go into too much detail right now. In contrast to the mostly conservative India, this temple was covered in very graphic, erotic sculptures. We didn't stay too long because of the intense heat and the constant hassling of Indian tourists to have pictures taken with us. We were slightly aggitated when we left and ended up yelling at a little girl's parents for allowing her to kick a dog. The animal abuse here is one thing that is really starting to irritate Rob and I. As a result, we've been feeding stray cats and dogs our leftover food.
After the Sun Temple we headed to Pipli where we bought several decorative items, then back to Puri. We spent our last few hours relaxing on the beach in an attempt to cure Rob's throbbing headache, followed by supper at The Honeybee.
That night we caught our first 1st Class Train. We were thrilled at the idea of having a cabin to ourselves and finally getting a decent sleep on
the train. To our dismay, the conductor came and told us not to lock the door as there would be two more passengers joining us in a couple of hours. The people tend to be very inconsiderate and completely unaware of others around them who may be sleeping. Talking loudly, coming in and out of cabins, and randomly turning on the lights for no apparent reason are not uncommon on night trains. Despite being first class, this time was no exception. At around 11:30pm, when Rob and I were obviously trying to sleep, there were four others in the cabin eating, talking and listening to loud music with the lights on. Since we had to be up at 4am I was not going to tolerate this anymore and turned off the lights myself and told them to turn the music off. Rob then got up and told the conductor we were not happy paying first class rates for a sleeper car environment. He kicked two of the people out and it was lights out. Unfortunately, the man in our cabin snored. Loudly. Neither Rob and I could fall asleep, so I got the idea to turn on the fan nearest
to his head in hopes to make him roll over. It worked! Finally, we were able to fall asleep and got a solid 20 minutes of rest.
We made it safely to Kolkata and we'll leave it at that for now. It's getting late and we're now trying to decide whether to watch the 9pm movie or go to the nearby hookah lounge.
Thank you to everyone who has been commenting and emailing us! We love hearing from all of you! Take care and bye for now!
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Lisa Tannahill
non-member comment
another great blog! it's nice to hear you guys are looking out for the animals. that would be heart breaking to witness the abuse. haha, your comment about running full tilt = no more than a light jog made me laugh. looking forward to hearing from you soon! - 'green with envy' in Regina.