9th Dec 2016 - Kyaikto - Yangon

9th Dec 2016 - Kyaikto - Yangon

All bags were packed, loaded onto the cars and we left the Eternity Resorts and Hotels at around 8 AM so we could reach Yangon early.  The food in Myanmar is closer to Indian food than Thai food so many of us in the group were more comfortable with the breakfast, which was served at 7 AM.

The cars were driven in a convoy and would be on the road for about 4 to 5 hours including stops for tea and conveniences.

10th Dec 2016 - Yangon to Nay Pyi Taw

10th Dec 2016 - Yangon to Nay Pyi Taw

8th Dec 2016 - Myawaddy to Kyaikto (Golden Rock)

8th Dec 2016 - Myawaddy to Kyaikto (Golden Rock)

Three ministers of the Myanmar Govt flagged us off from the Hotel Grade One where we were staying.

View from our room in Hotel Grade One

Part of the Musicians group

Musicians and the ancers

Mahalakshmi having Thanaka applied on her face.

So, what is Thanaka?

The wood of several trees may be used to produce thanaka cream; these trees grow abundantly in central Myanmar. They include principally Murraya spp. (thanaka) ^[2] but also Limonia acidissima (theethee or wood apple).^[6] The two most popular are Shwebo thanaka from Sagaing Region and Shinmadaung thanaka from Magway Region. A more recent contender sold as a paste is Taunggyi Maukme thanaka from southern Shan State. Thanaka trees are perennials, and a tree must be at least 35 years old before it is considered mature enough to yield good-quality cuttings. Thanaka in its natural state is sold as small logs individually or in bundles, but nowadays also available as a paste or in powder form.

To know more about Thanaka go to - wikipedia

Scene from Myanmar Highway

A toll booth in Myanmar

The Chassis seems to be extended and an engine fitted in front of the vehicle.

Bridge across Thanlyin river

Orchids in the Hotel Eternity

The drive was long and we drove along the same landscape continuously, Hour after hour. In between we stopped at a restaurant on the roadside for some tea and it so much resembled those in Sri Lanka. We had sugarcane juice here.

Typical Myanmarese home, made of wood and on stilts. Even our Hotel room though of only one floor was raised and built on stilts - Brick and mortar building.

Typical Myanmarese road.

A Myanmarese cart powered by a motorcycle engine, where the rider sits on one side and not in the centre.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the roadside where the vegetarian food was quite alright. The tables were made of teak and so were all furniture in fact.

Both sides of the road one can find rubber tree plantations and in my understanding not as well maintained as one could see in Kerala. Yes we did walk through one for a short while.

7th Dec 2016 - Sukothai to Mayyawaddy in Myanmar

7th Dec 2016 - Sukothai to Mayyawaddy in Myanmar



Our stay was at Paylin Hotel, Sukothai for the night. Not much in turns of facilities but quite neat. The food as would be in any rural Asian Country.

We were packed and ready by 7 AM and ready to go to the Sukothai (Kingdom Historic Park), this was the Capital of the Sukothai Nation and the ruins here go back to the 13th and 14th Centuries. 

One gets to go around in trams which have now been refurbished and have electric motors installed. We were provided with a guide and also received black sticky rice a new type of organic rice called RiceBerry as souvenirs / gifts. 

Here is something about Riceberry, click on this link ---Riceberry - to know more click here

Here is something from wikitravel about Sukothai

The city is a popular tourist destination because it is located near the ruins of the ancient city of Sukhothai, which was the Thai capital during the 13th Century C.E. The historical Sukhothai was the first capital of Siam founded by King Ramkhamhaeng. The province's temples and monuments have been restored and Sukhothai Historical Park is an area with numerous sites of historical interest which has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other interesting places include Ramkhamhaeng National Museum, Ramkhamhaeng National Park, Sri Satchanalai National Park, and The Royal Palace and Wat Mahathat.

History

Sukhothai was capital of the first kingdom of Siam established some 800 years ago. The exact year is unknown but according to the Fine Arts Office it was between 1238 and 1257.

Established in around 1238 to 1257, Sukhothai literally means “Dawn of Happiness.” Phokhun Si Intharathit was the founder of the Phra Ruang Dynasty, Sukhothai’s first dynasty. For 120 years as the capital of Siam, Sukhothai was ruled by many kings. In this connection, the most dynamic monarch being King Ramkhamhaeng the Great, who created the Thai alphabet, laid the foundation for politics, monarchy, and religion, as well as, expanded its boundary of influence. Though the golden era of Sukhothai no longer exists, tourists should bear in mind that respect and admiration for the renowned ruined twin cities of Sukhothai and Si Satchanalai is highly valued.

With little time available to us we completed the ruins and the museum in less than three hours and were on our way to the Myanmar border by about 11AM.

In about 3 hours we reached MaeSot which is on the border with Myanmar. Myanmar is across the river Moei from Thailand (MaeSot). 

At the ruins of the Sukothai Historic Park

Map of the historic park

Face of Buddha at the museum.

Seed pods in a rural Thai market. Large eh???

Dried mushrooms? With the language barrier I could not find out what these where.

Entering Myanmar on the Thai side.

Entering Myanmar, on the Myanmar side of the border. Note the cars are now on the right side of the road.

Temporary registration of the car I was driving in Myanmar

Going to the duty free shop housed in a  Casino cum Hotel

Waiter at Grade One Hotel - Myawaddy.

We crossed into Myanmar and everything went without a hitch, we were expected and were given temporary numbers for our cars. On top of the bridge when you cross into Myanmar one has to switch to the right side of the road as traffic moves on the right side of the road in Myanmar and against the left side in Thailand. So we now have to contend with driving right hand drive cars on the right hand side of the road in Myanmar. The traffic was rather chaotic, not many care here for traffic rules or for their lives. We went to a Hotel cum Casino cum duty free shop where we all bought a few essentials and in about 90 minutes we were driving towards our Hotel - Grade One Hotel in Myawaddy. Again one of those Hotels in a small town in Myanmar, reasonably clean with not so smart decor and taste. 

29th Nov 2015 - Baroda to Mumbai

The objective of starting a little early into Mumbai was to reach before the traffic snarls delayed us getting into the Hotel and moreover we had planned on visiting someone at the edge of the city.

A early start was good though not as early as we would have liked, the breakfast took a little time and we were on our way shortly. We hit the highway soon after and made good time. The drive to Mumbai was good, the roads were good and though at parts maintenance was going and this was expected. The tolls were fast and yes real fast, the toll booth operators do not waste time and they are efficient, moving vehicles swiftly and without delay, so the long queues really did not punish us.

Once in Mumbai the traffic was as expected, heavy. We managed to get into our first visit just about 30 minutes late not bad considering that we took a wrong turn somewhere and we had to go about 10 Kms to find a U turn to get back to the road which we should have taken. One must realise that GPS is not accurate to the foot and is most often accurate to about 25 feet and in a city like Bombay where in parts of the city there are more than one road leading away from the main road, one needs to be careful, check the signages for the correct road and not entirely rely upon the GPS.

A few hours here and we were on our way again towards Fort. Where we were staying.

The drive was not too bad and we managed to get to our Hotel much before peak traffic. The hotel thankfully had skilled drivers who had to park the car many times during the day over the next few days as I would notice depending on the time of the day and traffic flow. The car would be shifted form one location to another.

2nd Dec 2015 - Mumbai to Kolhapur

Our rice cooker was out early in the morning, the rice was made mixed with curds, packed and we ready to go. In a few minutes we were down having our breakfast, Made sure that all we had to pack was packed and nothing left behind in the room.

By about 9 AM we were in the car with the luggage loaded and were off, the first stop was to tank up on diesel and check the air and once this was done at a nearby fuel station we were off, heading towards the Eastern expressway, which would take us to Thane and then onto the Mumbai Pune expressway.

The roads as expected were good and fortunately there were no unruly drivers on the road, pleasant driving with good scenery to the left and right and wide roads where one can do good speeds. But watch out, there are some curves that are unexpected and if one is not an experienced driver going very fast on the Mumbai Pune expressway one must be slow and careful. There were signages pointing out that tyre bursts cause fatal accidents, this was because, many years ago soon after the road was thrown open youngsters wanting to experience the thrill of speed would drive at very high speeds on the highway and experience tyre bursts. Many drivers do not read enough about the machines they drive and about safety, many do not even check the tyre pressure regularly, not understanding that it is only the tyre that is in contact with the road. Cars cannot be driven at high speeds when fitted with tyres which are not rated for high speed, More on this at the end of this post.

The experience of a hot cup of tea at a road side eatery can be matched only by a stop at a roadside tea shop for a cup of hot tea. A few hours on the road and we came across a small bye, where we stopped, bought some peanuts, fresh coconut water, tea and we were off, though the idea was to have some misal pav this was not be found here.

Thanks to smart phones, internet and search engines one is never too far from the information that is desired. What we were looking for now is Joshi;s Wadapav which came well recommended and we were told that it was only a few Kms away, yes and we did find the outlet. However, the misalpav was not exactly great but the wadapav was good. What took my time was a small shop selling some products that were unique, a gas stove top grill, milk guard - a porcelain plate with grooves cut which we were ensured would stop milk for boiling over if placed at the bottom of the vessel in which the milk was being boiled, a small plastic gadget which can be used to crush and cut chillies, garlic, ginger etc. Purchases made we were back again on the road.

Further down the road we stopped for our packed lunch of curd rice and pickles and just a little forward was a pump in which we filled up our tank. The pump on the highway was clean and well attended and I was surprised that they were accepting credit cards and the transaction was put through with a handheld card reader (transaction acquiring device).

It was raining in patches never heavy but a drizzle here and a few Kms away another drizzle and then a short duration light rain. We reached Kolhapur with little excitement.

We rested for a short while in the Hotel and were ready to go after a cup of tea. the destination? The Mahalakshmi temple which the city was famous for. Kolhapur was a surprise, well developed and large. Hotels with restaurants that one would expect to see in a large city. Just shows that we do not know enough of the country we live in.

The temple was another surprise waiting for us, one has to enter the temple through gates such as one would enter a fort, then walk through paved surface one comes to the entrance, leave the footwear in counters designated for this and you are in.

No jostling, no one pushing you to buy from them, no large crowds that evening, we were surprised, first was the lack of a crowd and second the very well behaved vendors. We walked through had our darshan said our prayers and were out in a short while.

The statue of the goddess Mahalakshmi is made of gemstone and is considered to be between 5000 and 6000 years old. Weighing about 40 Kgs the precious stones on the deity point out its age.

This temple is worth a visit and if possible during sunlight, the architecture is unique and captivating.

A blog providing information on the temple - 

http://indianmandirs.blogspot.in/2013/10/kolhapur-mahalakshmi-eyes-of-sati-devi.html

Outside the temple are stores selling, what else, Kolhapure chappals and who would go away without buying one, most of these shops here are run by Malayalees.

Here is a table from Wikipedia and I would strongly urge everyone who drives a car to read through more on tyre safety and tyre markings

Speed rating

The speed symbol is made up of a single letter or an A with one number. It indicates the maximum speed at which the tire can carry a load corresponding to its Load Index.

Speed rating^[12]

Code	mph	km/h		Code	mph	km/h
A1	3	5		L	75	120
A2	6	10		M	81	130
A3	9	15		N	87	140
A4	12	20		P	94	150
A5	16	25		Q	100	160
A6	19	30		R	106	170
A7	22	35		S	112	180
A8	25	40		T	118	190
B	31	50		U	124	200
C	37	60		H	130	210
D	40	65		V	149	240
E	43	70		Z	over 149	over 240
F	50	80		W	168	270
G	56	90		(W)	over 168	over 270
J	62	100		Y	186	300
K	68	110		(Y)	over 186	over 300

Read the complete article here - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tire_code

28th November 2015 - Udaipur to Baroda

Great roads

Best road between Udaipur and Ahmedabad, gentle curves a delight

Ahmedabad bye ass not so smart too many speed breakers, dirty and too much unruly traffic

Ahmedabad to Baroda expressway great road but no stops for relaxing you start and then do not stop till you reach Baroda no amenities like on the yamuna expressway

Baroda

dinner at Mantap - Hotel express

26th Noveber 2015 - Jaipur to Udaipur

Yesterday we left Agra and started our drive to Delhi we had decided that on our way to Delhi we will drive through Mathura and ten to Brindavan before we hit the Yamuna Expressway.

At Mathura we made it to the Krishna Janma Bhoomi (the prison where Krishna was born) cars are not allowed near the entrance to this shrine so Aanand stayed back in the car trying to find a place to park. Mahalakshmi and I went on and were accosted by a few touts who promised to take us through the VIP gate and give us VIP darshan etc. We brushed them aside and went on, a while later we found that we knew very little about the shrine or how to get inside there were no signs and no information anywhere to guide us. We fell into the hands a of a tout who took us on saying that he will take us in no time through the VIP entrance and when we went there we found that everyone was a VIP and there was a very very long queue waiting to get in. Seeing this he said that he would take us through another entrance at which time we said enough is enough and walked away. On the way out Mahalakshmi asked a policeman the best way to get in and he said all we had to do was wait in the queue and go in and there is no problem at all, in fact the inside is easy to navigate. Not convinced we walked away and while we were walking to the car we noticed that the main gate had opened and people were going in. We rushed and packed our cameras mobiles into my handkerchief handed this over at the safe keeping counter and charged in. In a few minutes we were as there was not much of a crowd at this gate, as it had just opened. We walked over to a shop which accepted to take care of our footwear and once this was done we rushed to see the jail whee Krishna was born. The building was new and was constructed to give one the feeling that he was going into a dungeon and there it was a shrine in the room where krishna was supposed to have been born, whether this is true or not is a big question but what can one do against faith? We saw, we wondered ad were out, back to the shop to pickup our shoes and off we went to the car. The shop which had taken care of our shoes did not take any money for this little service, in fact they flatly refused.

By this time we realised that we were late and would not be able to make it to Brindavan, so we decided to drop the idea of Brindavan and started for Delh, we did stop over at one of the exits for some food.

It took us over 1.5 hours to get away from mathura, the very narrow roads, crowd and the not so helpful GPS conspired and worked against our desire for a fast and easy exit from this town.

Once we hit the Yamuna Express Way we were happy. The very broad roads, no traffic coming from the opposite side enabled us to move on at high speeds, 120 and no need to slow down. We reached Delhi in record time and reached our Hotel The Manor, the hotel is run by the same people who run The Habitat and The Manor boasts of one of India's top class restaurants "Indian Accent" a must for anyone interested in gourmet food.

We left early in the morning and drove down to Jaipur. At Gurgaon we had to stop on the highway for a short while to meet Rtn. Dr Nischol Pandey who was driving there to meet to shake hands with us. We did just that said our goodbyes and went our way. We had booked ourselves into The Jaipur Club, we had stayed there earlier when the rooms had just been renovated and when we checked in yesterday I was shocked, the room was something like one of the Lodge rooms that you see in tamil cinemas close to a railway station? All the soft furnishings were dirty and stained and we would have fallen il had we stayed there. Luckily we found ourselves room at the SMS Taj which was closeby. On the way to our newly found Hotel we stopped over at a Reliance Fresh to buy some snacks, milk, rice and curds - ha ha we make rice for the journey and have curd rice for lunch everyday we travel. When we came out o the store we found that the police had wheel locked the car, again luckily we found their number on the windshield and they came in soon as we called. The Rs 200 that I paid was well worth the trouble that otherwise we would have to go to before we went to our hotel. The hotel was great and the Rajasthani thali we had for dinner was good. We did decide to stay on for another day here as Mahalakshmi was not keeping too well, her cold was bugging her. But, no rooms available. 

We started our journey this morning at about 10AM with a packed breakfast with us. With a packed breakfast and lunch we were set to drive with little time wasted on lunch and breakfast. The breakfast we had in the car to save time and kept going,the light falls early here in the North and I do not want to drive after dusk. 

A few hours after we started and on NH79A I stopped at a roadside Dhaba which caters to lorry drivers for a cup of tea. The dhabba was furnished with Charpoys on which men were sitting and having their breakfast (lunch?) I shall publish the pictures that I took here on my blog http:/mindonedge.blogspot.com

The road was patchy at points and this slowed us down but we did manage to keep a respectable 60Km average through our our trip today.

We stopped for lunch at a Banyan tree on the side of the road and adjacent to which were a few shrines to some hindu gods which I was not able to identify, thanks for some shade and privacy we had a quick lunch and were off in a short while.

A few hours later we were driving through a small town or a village when Mahalakshmi noticed swords being sold on the roadside shops, we pulled over so I could buy one. On inquiry we were told tat peoplebuy these swords for use in religious ceremonies and weddings and the like, the Rajputs are a warrior clan right? We negotiated a price purchased a sharp sword, threw it into the dicky and were off.

Reached Udaipur at 5 PM, checked into the Hotel and then took a Uber to look around. This evening we had dinner at Natraj Dining Hall which serves a phenomenal Rajasthani Thali and in my opinion much better than the ones we get at Rajdhani in Chennai. we had gone looking for some handloom block print shirting material which we did not find but the thali was worth the trouble of having got out of the Hotel this evening.

Tomorrow we look around Udaipur and then we are off to Baroda.

We have covered over 4000 Km on our trip so far and have yet another 1600 or so more to go before we reach our destination - Bangalore.

With so much driving to do there is not much of photography being done. Yes I do use my phone to take the pictures and my trusted very small handy Kodak also comes into use. The only time I used my Nikon DSLR was in Varanasi.

Sometimes I just want to experience all there is around me and not be bothered with photographing it

24th Nov 2015 - Agra - Mathura - Delhi

Agra is a better maintained city than Kanpur, better roads, lesser pollution better discipline on the roads.. maybe we were exposed to the better part of Agra? aybe so because it has more tourist inflow?

Speaking to a few businessmen here the general feeling I get is that the Taj Mahal is more a bane than a fortune, the ban of polluting industries many Kms radius of Taj to protect the monument has not gained favour with them. When they are questioned about the Taj bringing in the tourist, the  answer is that thanks to Agra's proximity to Delhi Agra is only a day tour and not a tourist destination, most tourists come from Delhi to Agra stay here for a few hours and then go back, so it is Delhi which rakes it in ad not Agra. Why I asked did the UP Govt not project Agra as a tourist destination, why have the other tourist interest monuments and events not improved or built, the Yamuna river can be developed for water sports? The Govt could have a dialogue with the military to vacate Agra fort and the army could be given alternate accommodation?

The signages on the roads are in Hindi and they are not strategically placed so a driver without a GPS may find it difficult to move around. We got onto the road to Mathura (NH2) as we wanted to go to see Krishnas Janma Bhoomi and then to Brindavan to the Banke Bhari temple.

We managed to get into Mathura and to the Janma Bhoomi, we were accosted by the many touts there promising moksha if we used their services to visit the temple, we in desperatation as there were not enough signages to show us the way or to give instructions on how to get into the temple(?) asked one of the touts to help, he said that the main gate was closed but would take us to the other gate and take us in, the other gate was very crowded and he said he would take us to yet another gate not feeling good we inquired with a policeman who told us that entry was not difficult and we do not need a tout. We walked from there towards the car thinking that we were not going to be able to make it inside. On the way out we noticed that the Main gate had opened and they were allowing visitors inside, we packed our mobile phones, car keys etc in my handkerchief and handed it over at the safe keep counter and charged in. In about 20 minutes we had seen the prison in whcih Krishna was supposed to have been born and were out. No tout.

However, we were late for Brindavan and therefore decided that lunch at a referred

22nd November 2015 - Varanasi to Kanpur

We had no intention to stop at Kanpur, our original intention was to drive straight from Varanasi to Agra. However, when we realised that it gets dark quite early as winter draws close we thought it better to include one more stop between Agra and Varanasi. Kanpur was the candidate.

Allahabad was on the way to Kanpur but too close to Varanasi to merit a night stop. So Kanpur it was.  The drive from Varanasi to Kanpur was rather uneventful, the roads were good but nothing to write about. The people remain the same the only thing that separates them is the distance, the same careless attitude, whether it be lorries, cars, pedestrians, it is not that they do not care for their lives but the need is to demonstrate courage and arrogance and believe that nothing will happen. So what if a few people lose their lives in trying to prove that they do not care?

The Allahabad Bye Pass is a long one and almost at its end is a bridge over the Sangam.

Kanpur as a city does not impress, it is dirty, crowded and very very dusty and carried on its shoulder the disdain and arrogance and who the heck are you? Attitude. At a traffic signal we heard a loud siren and started moving towards the left to make what we thought would be an ambulance or a police car. What came was neither, it was Mahindra XUV 500 and at the flag post in front of the car was a political party’s flag.

The roads that we had to navigate to our hotel did not leave us with a deep impression of the city, it was much like Varanasi, Gaya and this was no great surprise as we were not expecting much from this city.

Though a Sunday some traffic signals did have lot of traffic and actually in one we had to wait for over 40 minutes to move.

We decided not to move out of the Hotel.

23rd November - Kanpur to Agra

 We had our breakfast packed and commenced our journey much earlier than originally planned.To make things easier for us we decided to see the Taj Mahal and the Agra Fort on the same day we arrive at Agra.

We left behind Kanpur at 7:45 Am and reached Agra at about 1 PM.

On the road we realised there were no more surprises on the road, no more guns, no more pedestrians throwing a threatening glance at you, no more very rash driving.

While entering Agra we contacted a member of the HVK group on facebook who was a great help. He told us road that we could take which not be crowded and with less traffic we did save a bit of time. He had arranged for a local guide who would take us to the Taj and Fort. Once we checked into the Hotel we went off for lunch at the Dasaprakash and then went to the Taj, The VIP car park has capacity for a large number of cars ad one can easily find space. As vehicles are not allowed close to the monument one has to take a battery operated bus or cart to the entrance the cost is either Rs10 or Rs20.

As was expected the Taj left us in awe and though tired we were happy to spend a little extra time walking around. The fort was given a miss as we were told tat the Military was in occupation of the Fort ad that only a small portion was open to visitors. Back to the Hotel and some rest.

Later in the evening we went to the Agra Club to meet up with Sanjeev who had helped us with directions and arrangements for visiting the Taj Mahal. He went to a bit of trouble to guide us on our journey the next day through Mathura and Vrindavan and on to Delhi. A fine guy.

21st November - Varanasi

We were up at 5 AM and got ready as Dibesh had said that he will come to fetch us at 5:30, the plan was to go to the Ghats again for the morning Ganga Aarthi and then on a boat ride to witness the sunrise while we go along the banks of the Ganges viewing the many ghats along the river. Then we are to get off at the Manikarnika Ghat (cremation ghat) and walk to the Kasi Viswanathar temple.

There is so much to see and experience in this ancient city and it would appropriate to spare a few days here to ensure a complete experience.

The boat ride over we started walking up the Manikarnika ghats and were told that photography is not allowed in the cremation ghats, so we put our cameras away and got onto the narrow lanes that make Varanasi. The many narrow lanes and the crowd and the very hig securoty levels at the temple made it a harrowing and claustrophobic experience. A cup of tea for each of us served in Kullads helped just before we walked into the temple. The temple sanctun sanctorum is a small basin of about 6 feet diameter in which is a lingam, to which the millions who visit the temple pray. We poured the mug of milk that we had purchased for this purpose said our prayers and moved and this before we were pushed away by force to make way for others.

After breakfast at the Hotel we took an auto and went off in search of Aghoris, however we did not find any but did visit the Keenaram Babus ashram for Aghoris, after the Ashram we went to another Ashramkashi Mumkshu Bhavan Sabha at Assi, the elderly from various parts of India come here and wait till they die. The elders are taken care of well till their time comes.

Our next stop was the Harishchandra Ghats, another cremation ghats where we saw a couple of bodies being cremated, the amount of firewood that is used in the ghats is amazing. Most people use the traditional method of cremation rather than the electric crematorium.

Ganga Mahotsav and Dev Deepavali commence tomorrow in varanasi and to join in on the celebrations here over 200000 people I am told have come into Varanasi. No hotel rooms are available and the rush is great, this also means that the ghats will have large numbers of people. The highlight of the festival is on the last day, when more than a million clay lamps are floated down the river at dusk amidst chanting of Vedic hymns as part of Dev Deepavali.

Clay pots eing sold at Harishchandra ghats for the last rites to be carried out before cremation

Shuvkumar Chouhan our Auto driver

A common sign in Varanasi

An ashram in Varanasi to which the elderly from many parts of India and wait here to die.

Tea in Kullad just outside the Kasi Viswanathar temple

Lane in Varanasi

20th November 2015 - Bodh Gaya to Varanasi

Previous Post - 19th November Kolkata to Bodh Gaya

Next Post - 21st November Varanasi

Fresh fruits at our Hotel at Bodh Gaya - Only the small apples are really fruits the rest are wax :)

Horse drawn carriages outside the Maha Bodhi temple.

Near the road side market, Why these horses sport such colours? I don't know.

The old anf inform make the Maha Bodhi temple.

There were vendors on the road selling Buddhist handicrafts and others selling the regular stuff one sees in a temple market. Only a handful of vendors had anything of quality or interesting to offer. With nothing much to keep us here we started the next step of our journey.

Stalls sell a multitude of things at the roads leading to Maha Bodhi temple.

There were quite a few beggars at the entrance and almost all of them were physically disabled, some with arms and legs crooked, giving the impression that the limb was broken and not allowed to mend or allowed to mend in a crooked fashion so as to attract attention and bring in more alms. The world can be cruel.

Mutilated bodies are common at the entrance to the Maha Bodhi temple. Was the mutilation managed by someone who wanted to make money out of these people?

The Maha Bodhi temple is sacred to Buddhists it is here in Bodh Gaya that he attained enlightenment and under a Bodhi tree which exists or trees from its cuttings exist even today. The temple here has been built to mark the enlightenment of Buddha and is visited by Buddhists from around the world. There were so many people from the Orient that it was difficult for us to assign nationalities.

The temple complex is not very large. Pilgrims seemed to have been sleeping within the temple complex as we could see sleeping bags, mosquito nets, pillows, beds on the lawns. There was a conference going on and maybe these people had come here to attend the conference nd were allowed to sleep here. There was a Nepalese woman doing the Parikrama of the temple in their traditional way, she would prostrate, then get up and walk for three paces and then prostrate again, this continued till she went around the temple. If one does not intend to go inside the temple then footwear can be worn around the temple complex. No restrictions on photography but no mobiles, MP3 players, obviously disturbance by noise is not acceptable. There is a fee for cameras though the entrance is free.

At the entrance to the temple

Maha Bodhi temple

Pilgrims, with a wooden plank on which they prostrate stand and then prostrate again and again.

Pilgrims from all over the Budhist world.

Stand, prostrate and then stand again, lift your hand in prayer above your head, take three steps and repaet all over again to make circumambulations around the temple in penance.

Varanasi was not a long distance away but the traffic and the impatient and careless two wheelrs, drivers and pedestrians ensured that we drove slow. The condition of the roads too contributed to the slow pace we were forced to keep.

Luckily we were prepared for food as we had cooked some rice and the curds we had purchased the previous night at Bodh Gaya put together made some delightful curd rice which could be had on the highway.

There were a lot of people in the Varanasi because of the Karthika month and the upcoming Nethra Deepavalli on the 22nd.

Just out of Varansi this guy was riding this motorcycle with two women behind him. He was sitting on the petrol tank of the motor cycle.

Cows eating plastic is a common sight in Varanasi, another way to kill a cow.

Protection from the heavy pollution in Varanasi.

Vehicles move so close to each other it is a wonder that there are not so many accidents.

Once we checked into our Hotel we swiftly got in touch with our contacts here and made arrangements for the next day. walked out of the Hotel took 2 Autorickshaws and went to the Dasashwamedha Ghats for the Ganga Aarthi. We were able to witness the closing part of the Aarthi and then walked around the crowded roads, did some window shopping and took in the various sights that were presented to us. Shops selling Chillums, various Hindu religious materials, Sadhus walking around, pilgrims from all over the Country and visitors from around the world curious and hanging around to understand what was happening before them. Vehicles are not allowed on the road leading to the Ghat so we had to walk about 500 metres to the ghat, BUT we were surprised to see two wheelers on that road beinf driven quite fast considering the large number of people on the road. The lights, colours, shops, eateries was engaging. We returned to the Hotel qute early as we had fixed to leave very early the  next morning on a boat ride to see the sunrise from the Ganges and to visit the Kasi Viswanathar temple.

The road going towards Dasaswamedha Ghats, crowded and polluted.

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The road leading to Dasaswamedha ghats - no vehicles allowed only pedestrians

`Ganga Aarthi

Devotees

This Sadhu got upset that I took his picture without giving him money, was obviously popular with the crowd as many people came over to him to get his blessings, was it because of his makeover?

Umbrellas at the ghat

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