Northern India Journey - Day 24 Bodhgaya to NJP - 5/1/2011

First thing in the morning, I went to book a bus ticket to Patna so as to take a train to New Jalpaguri for Darjeeling. In this few hour, I went around in Bodhgaya to see other small temples inside and see the Big Buddha. I had also re-visited the Mahabodhi Temple. When I was in the temple, I met a child lama. He gave me a leaf for a blessing. I was so blessed.

The leaf given by a young lama.

The big Buddha. There was a tour from Thailand all wearing in white. 

In the afternoon, I went to the ticket counter as the staff would bring me to take the coach. I was a bit late, the staff took me there by a motorbike! That's funny. I, then, realised the bus station was my hostel. I could also get a cheaper ticket in my hostel. A bit silly here. In the coach, I had to sit behind the driver. It doesn't mean the seat at the back of the driver. There was a "room" at the front of the bus which for driver. Since there were too much passengers, some of us had to sit in there. 7 people squeezed together for about 6 hour journey was really harsh.

The driver room

Situation at night.

Taking bus in India was an interesting experience you should have. At night time, there was no any lighting on the road. The driver could only rely on the headlight to see the road condition in the dark. The bus, however, was quite a broken one. He had to twist the wire in order to turn on the headlight. There were also many cows would block the road. The traffic system was so bad in India, therefore, there was a special staff who help the coach run smooth. Finally, I had arrived the train station. Again, the train delayed as it's routine. I went to the waiting room to take a rest while the train was coming. The train would arrived at around 3am, but the train should be there at 10pm. There was no place in the room. I laid down my backpack and sit on it. Sometime it felt like all the people inside were staring at me, as i was the only foreigner inside the room. luckily enough, an Indian showed me a seat while one left the room. He was so nice.

Waiting room