A Buddhist friend in Portugal had recommended we go to Sarnath for the day to escape the mayhem of Varanasi.
It’s a peaceful place where the Buddha gave his first teachings and is one of the most sacred places in Buddhism.
We walked to the spot where the taxis and rickshaws start and took a chance on a rickshaw. He asked us on the way if we had a guide and he’d be our guide for an extra 500 rupees. It was well worth it as the temples were quite spread out and we would never have known where everything was!
First a small temple with a bodhi tree, then a park with the ruined monastery and the stupa on the spot where the Buddha gave the first talks.
It felt very special to be in the same place as the Buddha had been.
There were lots of Tibetan monks and Charlie spent ages chatting to them …some were from Tikse a temple he had actually visited in Ladakh!
Then we went on to a Thai temple and more peaceful gardens.
I had tukpa and Charlie had momo.
Then a hair raising ride back to Varanasi … very fast…I think I coped pretty well but was certainly getting to the edge of my comfort zone as he was weaving in and out of the traffic at breakneck speed!
