So now I'm in Bodh Gaya, the place where Buddha became enlightened under a bodhi tree. There's a large temple, alongside a descendant of the original tree. I was a little disappointed by the tree. It's surrounded by a gold fence, and then a stone fence outside that. I had the obligatory meditation under it anyway, but still no enlightenment. ;)
There are also temples and monasteries from every other Buddhist country in the world. It's an eclectic mix of styles. There's a Thai temple (all glittery gold and upturned roof beams), a very zen Japanese one, a crazy coloured red-and-blue-and-green dragons Tibetan one. Not to mention an enormous stone Buddha statue.
We went to visit the Buddha statue just as the sun was going down behind it. It was amazing, following the path to this very lifelike statue, glowing all around the edges with the light.
There's a market around the main temple, selling every bit of Buddhist paraphenalia you could ever want (statues, prayer flags, mantra beads anyone?). It's lovely at night, when all the stallholders put candles out, and the smell of the street stall food wafts through the warm night air.
I'm still sick as a dog. I think my stomach may have shrunk in the last week. I'm hoping my multivitamins will keep me going, because my diet of toast and rice is not going to cut it.
I've started on a delicious range of antibiotics and assorted other pills. I have a feeling the doctor may have over-prescribed slightly. Oh well, at least we know there'll be no bugs left standing. Will it be kill or cure?
I'm hoping for being better before I catch the train back to Chennai on Saturday. We always love sickie train trips. Woo, and then it's back to the UK. Not much time left now . . .
Posted by eithne at March 23, 2004 09:20 AM | TrackBack