Bodh Gaya is where Lord Buddah attained enlightenment under the Bhodi Tree and spent a great deal of time hanging out and recruiting his disciples.

A huge Buddhist Temple is the centre of it all and just about every strain or nationality that embraces Buddhism has built temples and monestarys in and around the town.

The Dalai Lama is in town for a couple of weeks to promote World Peace. Good luck there!!!!

I will let the photos speak for themselves but tens of thousands of fully robed monks from all over the buhdist planet is a pretty impressive site. Holy water, incense and flower garlands and petal in mega abundance. Constant prayers and chanting.

Needless to say I stuck out like a sore thumb as I gazed down over sea of safron and marigolds.

A direct (4th generation) descendant of the original Bodha Tree is centre below having been transplanted from Sri Lanka a while ago.

Even the dogs were chilled and even fed!

Further afield: large Buddah statues and ornate temples and monestaries are everywhere. All of the above surrounded with the chaos and mess that I am coming to realise in the norm in India. I checked out the Thai one and then retreated to the hotel for lunch.

Off to Nalanda in the morning where the world’s first residential university was founded several millenia ago whem Buddah was being enlightened. Then finally I get oboard the Kathy Pandaw for a 12 night cruise down the Ganges to Kolkata. I can’t wait as it should be considerably more tranquil than the India of the past few days!!