Lumbini

Sunday 26^th April 2015

This morning we woke up early feeling even more sore than yesterday the bed was like sleeping on concrete with a sheet so we decided to just get up and face the day.

After getting ready we headed out for some breakfast eating at the same local dive of a place we went yesterday. We had some mini chapattis and some fired potato cake things with curry which was all pretty delicious.

After eating I ran back to the guesthouse and get my camera and we headed out to see what Lumbini has to offer. There is a huge temple and monastery complex all within a wooded area with a canal straight down the middle.

We walked all the way to the far end of the complex where the Lumbini museum is we walked into the area which has a circular lake in the middle we walked into the museum but had to walk around the lake to get tickets and then back around to the museum.

The building is pretty cool with high ceilings and huge circular windows that let in a ton of light but the exhibitions are all a bit tired either not labelled very well or extremely damaged by what looked like termites to the point where you couldn’t even see what the display was supposed to be.

We wondered about looking at what we could and then continued on through a market where we stopped to clean up my hand which was swollen and weeping puss which was pretty disgusting. After cleaning that up we walked through the market to the world peace pagoda the gardens there were especially beautiful and best of all we had the place pretty much to ourselves.

We stuck our head into the Japanese Buddhist prayer hall but there was something going on so we didn’t stick about.

We walked back along the canal and looked at a few of the other temples and monasteries from afar. The layout is a bit poorly planned in that you can’t visit each place from the canal road directly rather you have to wait for a crossroads turn and then walk back along the road that each centre is on. If you are on foot this is very tiresome as some places you end up back tracking several kilometres.

The sun was beating down on us and we were feeling quite achy and tired so we decided to hit up the official birthplace of Buddha and then head back to town. The official sight is at the other end to where we began. We had to get tickets and have our bags checked and whatnot and then we were allowed in as we were queuing there was another aftershock but again we didn’t feel it and were only aware of it because another tourist was rather hysterical about it.

We followed the path into a building built over the ruins of a temple which houses the exact spot where Buddha was born we had to line up to walk onto a small platform to get a peek at it there were so many people pushing and shoving that I was glad for the policeman who forced everyone into a queue.

We had a quick glance at the spot and then continued on outside to garden where there were some more ruins a big pond and a huge Bodhi tree. After a good look around we were both fading and so headed back out of the complex.

We were so knackered that we got a cycle rickshaw back to town it moved exceptionally slowly and I felt so mean for making someone else work to get us back but then again he wouldn’t haggle on price so he got a decent wage for his work.

Back in town we had lunch in our now regular dive and then went in search of a pharmacy for something to clean out our wounds they didn’t have anything acceptable so it was back to the guesthouse to wash them out douse them in hand sanitizer (and jump around screaming curses while it burned to fuck) and then apply antibiotic cream.

We spent the afternoon chilling out reading and sorting out our next move. In a few days we head across the border to India and then northwards.

In the evening we went across the road and had some dinner after which we got chocolate and read until bed time.

World Peace Pagoda

Water lillies outside the WP Pagoda

Sunflower outside the Japanese prayer hall

The main canal that runs down he centre of the complex

The lake outside the Lumbini museum

Lion gaurding the WP Pagoda

The building that houses the marker stone of the birthplace of Buddha

The Cycle Rickshaw back to town

Monday 27^th April 2015

This morning we were woken up at about 4am by a girl banging on the door we didn’t open it but the couple across the hall did it turned out the girl wanted to use the bathroom but there was no water so she thought it was a good idea to wake people up to ask what she should do! After she left the couple started playing ridiculous music which went on until we finally got up.

We went to breakfast which was ridiculously average and took an age to arrive and then the bill took an age but as we ate they kept trying to clear our plates away as we ate! Their service was a bit messed up.

After food we headed back to the guesthouse to pack up our stuff. It was the first time we had been through our bags properly and found that several things had been broken in the accident but nothing of particular importance so that was ok.

We chilled out in the guesthouse sorting all our things out for a while then went and had lunch but it was a bit fly infested so we didn’t stick around long.

Back at the guesthouse we half napped half watched a shit film on HBO before the power cut off we then headed out for a few beers and some drawn out dinner while chatting to some people it seems most people are a bit stuck here not really knowing where to go.

Eventually we made our leave and headed for bed to try and get a good night’s sleep ahead of tomorrow’s journey back to India.