We’re in Bodhgaya, where Buddha attained enlightenment 26 centuries ago.  The descendant of the Bodhi tree where he meditated is still here.

We arrived from Varanasi on an overnight train this morning.  We had to complete the journey with 5kms on a cycle rickshaw pedaled by a man who must’ve been a hundred years old.  And the last 20 kms were on an auto-rickshaw driven by an Indian with a death wish.

At 5am we arrived in Bodhgaya where we had the experience of a lifetime.  Only Buddhists monks were about, since tourists were sleeping, and it was the annual Tibetan pilgrimage to Bodhgaya.  The temple marking the place of enlightenment was brimming with Tibetan monks.  It was only them, and us.  We sat cross legged in the temple, drowning in their chants: an exhilirating experience.

Afterwards we had breakfast in a makeshift tent restaurant with half a dozen Tibetan monks.  We had Tibetan tea with them– frankly it tasted like crap (tea with salty bad milk) but it was a memorable experience.  I drank it all; Yano left 3/4 of it: wuss.  We tried to order similar food to them, and they laughed.  But it’s ok, because they were watching violent martial arts movies, and one of them was wearing Crocs.

Tomorrow night we leave for the Himalayas to freeze our behinds off and hopefully see a few of the tallest peaks of the world.  Mount Everest might be visible.

Oh yeah, virtually all the pictures have been uploaded.  We’re usually a day behind the posts.

Ta-ta, I have Tibetans looking over my shoulder at the internet cafe.  Surreal…

Merry Christmas y’all.