Half day drive over more bumpy roads across more picturesque Nepalese countryside. The country is really beautiful but the roads leave a bit to be desired. And as usual, livestock on the roads.
To put a positive spin on the roads, the going is slow so there is plenty of time to take in the scenery and the ride functions as a massage (of sorts). Some of the houses along the way were painted in very vibrant colors.
Our destination today is Lumbini, birthplace of Buddha. The compound where
the birthplace is located covers about 3 ½ square miles, is totally fenced and
contains over 40 temples and monasteries.
We were delayed in getting into the compound as the Prime Minister of
Bhutan was visiting and they had closed it down while he was inside. We saw him earlier at our hotel, he was arriving for lunch at our hotel just as we were finishing - lots of security.
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| Unknown Temple, Western Zone of Lumbini Monastic Complex |
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| German Temple at Lumbini |
Once we got into the compound we visited
just three temples. The first, the
German temple, was relatively new with very bright murals and architectural
details. It was by far the most colorful of the temples visited.
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| Ceiling mural |
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| Front outside wall and under the eaves |
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| Myanmar Temple at Lumbini |
The Myanmar (Burma) temple is covered with
gold (or what looks like gold) and was very simple and lovely.
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| Thai Temple |
The Royal Thai temple looks very Thai with lovely lines and details.
The building housing the architectural dig
that contains the stone upon which Buddha was allegedly born was actually very
plain by comparison. Beside it is the Asoka Pillar which centuries ago marked Buddah's birthplace.
Behind it was a brick lined pond
where the baby Buddha had his first bath.
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| Pilgrims praying beside the Sacred Pool |
Eternal flame symbolizing peace:
The hotel we stayed at in Lumbini was lovely
but we had tom cats howling outside our windows much of the night. Boy can those boy cats make a lot of
unpleasant noise.
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