Eastern India Trip Comments
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We enjoyed our trip to Eastern India.
Our flights from home to Delhi went well. Ordering our train tickets over the internet for
delivery to our Delhi hotel worked as planned. Our overnight sleeper-train trip from Delhi
to Varanasi was enjoyable.
Varanasi, India's most important spiritual center, was a wonderful experience. Although we
had been in Varanasi a couple of times previously, we were again awed by the diverse
passionate rituals practiced by the many Hindu pilgrims visiting the Holy Ganges there.
Walking the crowded twisting narrow streets near the Ganges provided us with a series of
unforgettable sights.
We had a stroke of good luck visiting Sarnath on the day of a major Jain festival, giving us
an opportunity to see the religious procession and subsequent Jain religious meeting. It was
also nice to see the old Buddhist ruins again and to take a walk on the pleasant streets of
Sarnath.
Our ten days or so in Bodh-Gaya, especially with the visit of the Dalai Lama, were the
unexpected highlight of our entire trip. Being in town with crowds of Buddhist pilgrims
from many countries was fascinating. At the Main Temple grounds we were impressed by
the fervent prayers and prostrations of the devotees. We enjoyed examining the many
different temples in Bodh-Gaya, We got to know the small town well and found it easy to get
around on foot. Our biggest thrill in Bodh-Gaya was to come so close to the Dalai Lama, He
seemed to cast a magic spell.
We had expected to get as far east as Calcutta. However, we spent more time than expected
in Varanasi and Bodh-Gaya. We plan to get to Calcutta on a future trip.
We hope you enjoyed this report of our trip to Eastern India. We invite you to click the
last link below to see some of our other travel journals.