From Bodhgaya with Love

I was truly excited about coming here, I thought I would find a vipassana retreat and retreat amidst the energy of the place where Buddha found enlightenment.  I did find a retreat but then it was cancelled, I was not too upset because it was a bit of a "starve yourself until Christmas" kind of retreat which did not sound that ideal anyway. Most people here have been starving themselves because they are or have been really ill. As a result, and having visited buddhist temples from every budhist nation, I am now skipping the Dalai Lama's teachings which would require me to stay until new year and I am shipping out to Varanassi for Christmas...

The Tibetan Temple in Bodhgaya was stunning!

Expectant...

I feel surreal; light joy and gentle bewilderment with a satisfied hunger as I lie on my bed in this shimmeringly clean space (Rahaul Guesthouse) where I have set down my bags this evening. Despite getting my opportunity to walk Bihar's sandy tracks at entirely the the wrong time in entirely the wrong direction and with both backpacks, I eventually found Bodhgaya. Tibetans and monks ooze like saffron blood through the smokey streets here, and it feels supremely safe. I never like an arrival in darkness especially when you're disembarked alone from a bus at the opposite end of town to where sense and guidebooks suggest you will land, however, I feel secure here so its a wonder that I have left a fabulous tented restaurant full of interesting looking travellers and returned to my room at only 8pm, but I just feel odd. I have an expectant feeling that I want to let evolve and I think I will need an early start to allow that to happen. Already I do not want to talk to the fellow travellers but I feel that they want to leave me alone too, maybe I am just overwhelmed at so many people having been so remote these last few days, or lonely, or tired or maybe this is where I start to get to grips with myself...