After the visit Nalanda University, we were done with the visits of the day. So we returned to Wat Thai in Bodhgaya, the round trip will have cost us 3 Rs.
It was an opportunity to wander a little more in the small streets of the city, just to see something other than the Mahabodhi temple. Even if we had already had a glimpse after this walk taking us towards the so called orphanage, going to meet the locals was important to me.
Wat Thai in Bodhgaya
When we arrived, we thought that we hadn't even been to the temple. So we entered through the side entrance, the one normally for monks, and we came across one and asked if we could go in. Yes, and yes, and there, a strange scene! We found ourselves behind barriers, with access to outside visitors being limited to the perimeter around the entrance!
So we find ourselves there with a group of Indians who are visiting the place and start asking us for photos... It gives us the impression of being in a "zoo"...
Surprised by this barrier, we asked the monk present in the temple why, the answer is linked to the behavior of the Indians who tend to touch everything without being authorized. They therefore had to take this radical decision by limiting access to the interior of the building…
The interior of Wat Thai.
In “our” quarters of Wat Thai, the contrast is striking with the outside…
Bodhgaya, poor… but welcoming
After that, we still had some time left before the day. So I decided to go back near the other Thai temple where we had been the day before. I wanted to go into the alleys of this part of the city, or village, we don't really know in fact...
Because these small narrow streets all clad in earth do not in any way give the impression of a city, if it were not for the number of inhabitants and the few administrative buildings (We will have the opportunity to go to a bank to ask for change, so for that Bodhgaya remains a city... Well, given the appearance of the Bank, I still have my doubts).
As I mentioned in the intro, I wanted to see more. The contact with the inhabitants is always punctuated by smiles, even if the embarrassment is sometimes palpable on my side, because I always have this feeling of participating in a kind of "voyeurism". I know that this is a particularly flagrant debate when it comes to visiting shanty towns.
There, it was neither a shanty town nor an organized visit, but the fact of coming across this ambient poverty, while we walk around with our photo equipment equivalent to a year's salary (and even then...), it is not an easy feeling to tame.
Always smiles!
We will go back through the same street as the day before and will therefore come across familiar faces. The girls are all happy. We will be accosted to ask for money in the end once again… We are presented with a baby while we are made to sit down.
The baby does indeed seem to have skin problems. We then let them know that Wat Thai has a clinic offering free care. They manage to retort that they are not good or something like that, because after all, what they want in the end is money...
We left by giving just in principle, but feeling wronged and tired by this behavior which mixes irritation and a feeling of helplessness in the face of this poverty that is thrown in our faces.
Group souvenir photo!
Our driver this morning reproaches them for letting themselves go into this poverty by contenting themselves with begging and hanging around in the street rather than trying something else... Who knows who is right or wrong in this story. The tourist is only good for taking out his wallet?
It’s the kind of walk that takes us out of our daily routine.
Walking around like this in places that are probably "untouched" by any foreign visitors inevitably attracts glances, glances that are sometimes curious, sometimes amused, sometimes just indifferent. Obviously, it is the children who are the most active when they see us, most of them all smiles like this group of kids who have just come out of school.
The Thai flag flies in the distance, this is the other Thai temple in Bodhgaya.
A real open-air dump…
It's the kind of walk that takes us out of our daily routine. Seeing these people doing their dishes outside on a muddy field, using cow dung as a "dishwashing liquid" (dung that is definitely used for everything, we understand better why the cow is sacred...), or those who wash outside as is, via the "luxury" of a water pump scattered here and there.
It almost makes one feel guilty for having such comfort at our disposal (just look at the camera, which for many of them is still inaccessible... not to mention the smartphone that sits in my pocket...)
Lots of smiles!
Kids all excited to see us in front of a school.
A brick factory belches smoke in the distance.
The small grocery store on the corner.
Once we returned from this unique experience, we had to return to the temple, because we had to pack our bags before leaving for the station that same evening. We will take the time to eat a last meal before boarding a taxi (another temple car) to reach the Gaya station for 500 Rs.
Last meal at Wat Thai before the night train.
At Bodhgaya station
At the station, it's a real hustle and bustle... Lying on the ground, lots of people, most of them sleeping everywhere, outside, on the platforms. As we are a little early, like everyone else we take a kind of plastic "floor mat" and start looking for a place to sit...
Finally, seeing free seats in the waiting room for the first classes, we decided to squat there. Squat, because in reality, we weren't in 1st class... But since the girl who was watching wasn't there when we arrived, it worked (we saw her later looking at us like, "did I check those ones or not?").
There we met the few other foreigners in the area, and although we certainly had seats, we have to admit that it stank a bit of piss... But hey, it's India, nothing really shocks us anymore...
At Gaya station, people are standing everywhere waiting for their train.
The wait for the train was a bit stressful, because there are no modern displays. To know where the train is going to arrive, you have to check a board where it is printed the passenger list at the entrance to the station. In addition to confirming that you are on the train in question, this normally marks the number of the arrival platform.
There was nothing there...
I got up every 10 minutes to go and see, stepping over all the people sleeping around who didn't move an inch... It was while checking our ticket and the train number that I realized that our train was indeed at the platform and that it was time to board!
I ran to join Jitima who was falling asleep and we loaded our big bags on our backs and rushed towards the train! Phew! That was a close call! (obviously there were announcements made, but we couldn't hear anything)
Once inside, we will find our respective bunks and like last time, at the time of departure, any extra people in the cabin join their respective places. A guy comes to distribute the sheets and we're off for a short night, direction Varanasi, still known as Benares.
Printed sheets with the list of passengers for the next trains.
In the waiting room normally reserved for first class (which we were not…)
