Lumbini is located in the Terai, a swampy lowland area in the South of Nepal, along the Indian border. It lies south and west from Tansen, about 60 to 75 km. The trip there in jeep (hired driver) took less than three hours. From Tansen to Butwal (a large town in the Terai and a hub for India-Nepal transit and trade) involves a steep descent from about 4,000 feet to sea level. The roads are narrow, and drivers have to contend with precipitous drop-offs with no shoulder, two-way vehicle traffic careening around turns without regard for the non-existent "lanes," not to mention cows, goats, and people on motorcycles, bicycles, and foot. (Accidents are all too common.) During the monsoon season, landslides are quite common, sometimes closing the road for days or weeks. Fortunately, we are at the end of monsoon season, so we made it down with no real problems.
The heat and humidity hit one almost immediately upon descending onto the Terai plains. The first real town encountered is Butwal. It's main avenue is lined with rickshaws, the most popular form of transportation in this part of the country. (Probably not as popular in Tansen due to the steep hills.) From Butwal, we traveled to Bhairahawa, which is a major border crossing between India and Nepal, though not much to see. Then the road turns west to Lumbini or east toward the Royal Chitwan National Park (which I hope to see in a few weeks).
Lumbini is a mere watering hole - blink and you'll miss it. The one "main street" (see album below) is about a block long with a scattering of guest houses, restaurants and shops. There were very few foreign tourists around, but lots of Indian and Nepali-looking visitors. The entrance to the World Heritage Site is right off the main road. The whole park is something of a nature sanctuary and garden, with lots of trees, grasses, ponds and marshes throughout. There is a central canal and avenue that separates the Eastern and Western monastic zones (representing different branches of Buddhism), where temples and monastaries in various stages of completion have been built by many of the nations with significant Buddhist populations. The monasteries and temples are fairly spread out throughout the park area, and most visitors get around by rickshaw or bicycle. We opted for rickshaws, which is a first for me. It was really difficult to see the poor driver sweating and straining to bear us over long stretches of gravel and/or muddy roads. But when in Rome, I guess....
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| Lumbini: Birthplace of Buddha |
Arriving on Friday evening at about 4:30 PM, we promptly secured rooms for the night in one of the local guest houses. Having Bim (a Nepali doctor) with us was a real help, as he was able to negotiate the price and other vital arrangements for us (like providing towels, turning on the ceiling fans). Once settled, we walked to the park and toured the Maya Devi Temple, which marks the actual, exact (supposedly) birthplace of Buddha. The temple encloses some original brick structures (ruins) dating back to as early as 300 B.C. (Buddha was born in the 5th or 6th century B.C.), as well as a marker stone in the exact location where Queen Maya (Buddha's mother) gave birth. Outside the temple is the sacred pond, where Buddha's mother bathed just before giving birth, and the Asokan pillar, erected by Emperor Asoka, and one of the earliest evidences that Lumbini was believed to be the birthplace of Buddha. Outside the temple, Buddhist monks lead meditation and worship. And Buddhist chants are played over a speaker system within the temple itself. I have to say that I felt it to be a little eerie and dark.
After this initial bit of site-seeing, we returned to "town" for dinner, where we were the only guests in the 3 Foxes restaurant. The food was fantastic, but portions were pretty small, so we kept ordering more courses and ended up staying for about three hours! We returned for breakfast - banana honey pancake - yum! In between, I spent perhaps the hottest night of my life. Heat was radiating from the roof, the floor, the mattress - even the ceiling fan couldn't do much more than stir the hot air around. Things finally cooled off by early morning, but even then, a cold shower only took away the stickiness for about a minute. We all had to drink liters of water to keep up with the losses to sweat! Nevertheless, we passed an enjoyable morning riding in rickshaws from temple to temple. After 6 or 7, and three hours of sun beating down, we were ready to leave. Overall, it was worth seeing, but I would recommend going in the winter!
Of course the trip wasn't finished until it was finished. That is, the return journey was somewhat of an adventure - or should I say ordeal? Now, I had plenty of long, hot bus rides in Bolivia, but it has been a while since I've had to travel that way, and I must say I don't miss it. Rather than pay 3000 Nepali rupees (about $40) for a private jeep back, we decided to travel the Nepali way - by public bus. It took three buses to get back, and a total of six hours. That includes waiting for the buses to fill up, because there are no scheduled departure times here - the bus leaves when as many passengers, bags, bundles, etc. are crammed in/on/under and around the bus as possible. Actually, the first leg wasn't too bad - 22 km in an hour, with several stops to drop off and pick up and wait along the way. Once reaching Bhairahawa, we didn't have to wait long. We were offered roof-top seats on a bus leaving immediately. Now, normally I wouldn't suggest riding on the roof of a bus. It's dangerous of course. But it was a short ride (20 km) and relatively straight and flat. So we decided to take the chance. It was actually a fairly pleasant ride - much more of a breeze than we would get inside the bus (which was stuffed to the gills). Children waved at the bideshi (foreigners) tourists along the way; we had to duck a few low-hanging branches; and we almost got rained on. But we arrived in Butwal safely and were the first to board the next bus for Tansen. And we waited. And waited. And finally, the bus left the bus depot and we were on our way - or so we thought. Then we stopped along the main avenue and baked in the hot sun while people got on and off, left bags in the aisle, loaded cargo on the roof...I think we were there for an hour with no room to move and no breeze. Ugh. Finally on our way, the loaded bus went about 5 km an hour up the hills to Tansen (not fast enough to get motion sickness from the twisty-turny road), stopping every 10 or 15 minutes at little villages along the way to load or unload passengers and cargo. By the way, there are really no bathroom breaks on these trips (unless you want to ask the driver to pull over and go in the grass by the side of the road with a busful of people watching), so fortunately I was able to sweat out any fluid I managed to take on the way. It took three hours to get to Tansen, and by that time I was ready for a cold shower!!! I was so glad to get back to cool mountain air. And I definitely appreciate the hardship my patients face getting to the hospital when they are sick or in pain.
So, God is good. I am thankful for safe travel, health and the opportunity to see a little more of the landscape, culture and religion of this beautiful country.
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