Next, I took a 27 hour train ride to Varanasi. It is famous for its cremations directly next to the holy river Ganges. I thought the burning bodies would shock me, but actually the way it was done and with the calm atmosphere I found it beautiful in a way. I had also heard from other travelers how disgusting the river would be, but I thought it was not too bad. While I would not go bathing directly next to the cremations from which the ashes are spread into the river, other areas would be fine. I really appreciated the calmness at the Ghats. I took a ferry to the other side of the river where horse riding was offered for tourists. I talked to other travellers about Varanasi. Some said for them it was "too much", while others liked the place a lot. I was clearly in the second group, but had to leave after only 3 days.
I took a very uncomfortable train ride without a reserved seat to Bodhgaya. Luckily I met Jampa, a Tiberian, who not only let me sit on his seat but also let me sleep in his hotel room with him. The Dalai Lama, his holyness, was in Bodhgaya for a teaching. This meant 200.000 Buddhist were in the town of 20.000 people which is why finding a room would have been a problem.
I was very lucky and managed to attend the teaching and see the Dalai Lama. I did not stay for long because it was in Tibetian and mobiles were prohibited inside. From the outside I could tune in to the radio station, where it was translated into English.
I listened to that while I visited the many Buddhist temples. Bodhgaya is an important place for Buddhist which is why there are temples from different countries. For me it was like a little tour through Asia, seeing a Thai, Bangladeshi, Vietnamese, Japanese and many more temples. The most important temple is the Mahabodhi temple. Inside is a tree, at which it is said that the next 1000 Buddhas will attain their enlightenment. So far there have been four.
There were so many so pretty and so different temples, but I had to rush through to see most in one day. Again, I would like to have stayed one or two more days, but I had to get to the next place.
To not rely on the luck I had with Jampa, I took a reserved seat in my next train. As expected someone was already in that seat and did not want to give it up, but after 2 minutes of discussing I won it back. I reached my next destination Rajgir to visit the Nalanda university nearby.
Built in the 5th century as it is the first campus university worldwide and the biggest of ancient times. I got a guide and it was great learning about the place. After the tour I stayed in the complex to enjoy the calm atmosphere and the relaxing countryside of Bihar.
