Sarnath

21st December 2004.

Sarnath was a quick afternoon day trip from Varanasi. Unfortunately, by the time we had tweaked some flights and argued with all transport providers in town, we only had a few hours for sight-seeing.

Sanarth is where Buddha came to preach his message of the middle way to Nirvana after he achieved enlightenment at Bodhgaya.

Buddhists come here from all over the world to see where Buddha gave his first sermon divulging the eight noble truths and all that other important stuff.

... and some just pose for photos.

Here are the remains of Ashoks Pillar that once stood 20m high. In the background, is the temple where Ashoka is believed to have meditated.

As with Bodhgaya, most Buddhists countries seemed to have a monastery here. The Burmese one was the most interesting to us as we haven't been to Burma.  We found the architecture in this monastery different from anywhere else.

Deer wander around the park.

... and the locals get on with life.

On the way back, we thought we might have discovered an honest man in Varanasi. This illusion was soon shattered when he 'reliably' informed us the road to our hotel was shut. Something about the police, or maybe a fire, or what was it??? So we got out and refused to pay. After a good 10 minutes of shouting we got back in cab, and he drove us the rest of the way to our hotel. They try anything here.
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