Monks and Tibetan Dumplings

The Mahabodi temple was a lot more alive today. Early morning was definitely the time to go as there were monks and pilgrims everywhere. Some sat in mediation; others walked around the temple in a clockwise direction; and many others prostrated themselves in front of the Bodhi tree or facing the temple. I saw and watching these prostrating monks. Standing with hands folded and then kneeling and sliding into a flat laying positron with their hands facing the temple/tree. Their movements were fluid and they seemed to continue with no sign of tiring.

I was chatting with the Internet guy last night, and apparently December and January are the peak months to visit. He said that the year before almost 20,000 monks were in town for pilgrimages/mediation retreats. The Dalai Llama comes during these months and speaks to large crowds in a few languages.

Other than relaxing in the temple grounds, I finished reading Midnight's Children and ate some good food. I had been eating Indian food for every meal, but I figured that today was the day to try Tibetan food. I had vegetable thukpa which was a pungent noodle soup with noodles that were like Korean ramyeon (ramen in Japanese). I also had steamed chicken dumplings called "momo" that were similar to Korean mandu or Japanese gyousa. It was a simple meal, but I enjoyed it.

The plan tomorrow morning is to get a rickshaw to the train station in Gaya (13 km). It wil be voting day in the national election, so everyone is telling me that I won't be able to get to the station. I got one rickshaw driver to agree to pick me up at 9:30 am at my guesthouse. If he doesn't show up, I could be walking (my train isn't until 1:45 pm)