Piling into the car, three Irish boys (also volunteering with VCD Nepal) and I settled in for a long and uncomfortable drive. The ride itself was incredibly scenic, twisting through the mountain passes towards Pokhara, before forking off and cruising southwards across the open Terai plains, towards Chitwan National Park. Wandering water buffalo and noisy tractors littered the Terai roads, and the sun became immediately hotter as the mountains grew distant.
Passing the turning for Sauraha - a popular destination for Chitwan travellers - we continued on further into the farmland. By now the three Irish guys had all passed out in the backseats, and I was left to get comfy in the front. This was a difficult task as the three boys are all remarkably long-legged, and I had already moved my seat forwards to the max! The rest of the drive through the plains villages and towns was relatively uninteresting. Passing under the Lumbini perimeter gate was the highlight, and I was excited to see what came next. Only then did I realise it was another 25 kilometres to get to the monastery complex in the centre of the area. Thankfully, we soon pulled up at a crossroads lined by a dark green metal fence - the limits of the sacred garden complex.
 |
| Official signage outside the ancient and archaeological heritage site |
Our hotel, the Siddartha Guest House, looked relatively impressive from the outside, but opening the room doors revealed quite a ramshackle set up. I quickly realised that just shutting my door did not do a good enough job, and proceeded to lock it each time to keep it shut. Sorted. Except for the huge opening between the door and frame that seemed to entice all manner of wildlife into my bedroom. The rest of the afternoon was entirely up to us. I ended up relaxing in my room, and playing host to what I thought was the only Gecko I had in my room. Whilst reading my book, I noticed a large shape pop out from behind the mirror on the wall. It turned out that the little scaly fella' had a larger friend that had been biding its time - waiting for the right moment to poke his head out and begin his nightly hunt. Although I knew Geckos to be harmless, I was still pretty unnerved by the large lizard that was now clinging to the walls of my room. I also didn't know how to coax him out in the right direction without scaring him back behind the mirror, and so I resigned myself to co-habitation.
The next morning I undertook a Gecko-check, and found my temporary roommate to have left. Phew. Sitting writing this now, however, I expect there will probably be more Geckos waiting for my return. I jumped in the shower and was ready for a good few hours sightseeing in the Lumbini complex. We all hired rickshaws to take us between monastery areas, as the entire compound was about 2.9 square kilometres in total. In blistering 40 degree heat, the small shade the rickshaws offered was more than welcome.
After entering the ancient and sacred Maya Devi Temple, we were shown the official site of Buddha's birth; a stone marker that had been excavated, protected under glass and collecting a tidy sum of Nepali Rupees as offerings. This site was a very cool thing to see, and we decided to chill out for a few minutes by a pond outside the temple - watching turtles sunbathe on the concrete edges. The rest of the tour involved trips to the German, French, Nepali, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, and Thai monasteries. All were very spectacular, with the Royal Thai one being the most stunning in gleaming white with pagoda-style roofing. Interestingly, my personal favourite was the Korean monastery. As I expected, the building itself was very stark and grey, made entirely out of concrete and brick. The prayer hall was very similar in style - no ornate carvings and relatively colourless. However, strings of pale pink and faded orange lanterns hung from the Buddha sculpture in the centre of the hall, with tags of handwritten prayers dangling beneath each one. A row of small tealight offerings lined the three other walls of the hall, and some faded red and gold murals of Lord Buddha looked down from the stony grey walls. I sat on the wooden threshold to enjoy the peace and minimalism of the monastery. It was truly lovely. While the Chinese and German tributes were ornate and striking, the Korean monastery was very unusual, but just as beautiful in my opinion.
 |
| The magnificent prayer hall in the Korean Monastery. Minimalist beauty. |
Due to the Buddhist nature of the monsteries and Stupas, we were required to remove our shoes before entering each building, out of respect. This is ordinarily absolutely fine, except that for a lot of the monasteries, the distance between shoe removal and the shady interiors of the prayer halls was an awfully long way. The cloudless sky and high heat made the ground almost unbearable to step on with bare foot, and I can safely say my soles were sore for a long time after the tour!
Other than the monastic complex, and the archaeological sites of Buddha's birth, Lumbini does not really have much more to offer. The small amount of hotels and shops outside the compound fence leave a lot to be desired. Unfortunately the same can be said about the Siddartha Guest House, but it served its purpose and that is all that we needed. The Lumbini sacred garden complex is absolutely beautiful and is well worth a visit if you are in the area. However, it is time-consuming and expensive to get to from Kathmandu, and does not need longer than a one night stay to enjoy this World Heritage Site. I would happily go back to spend more time in the Korean monastery, but other than that - bring on Chitwan and its wonderful elephants tomorrow!
Mosquito bite count: 34
No comments:
Post a Comment