My Buddhist pilgrimage

A 30 min auto rickshaw ride away from Varanasi is the town of Sarnath, one of the four most important pilgrimage sites in Buddhism. This stupa marks the spot where The Buddha preached his first sermon.



I stayed at the Tibetan monastery.



And ate my meals at this Tibetan restaurant.



Tibetan food - Momos (steamed dumplings) and Thankuth (soup). Momos are delicious, especially with lots of chili powder.

The best part about Sarnath is that staying at the monastery, the peacefulness of my surroundings and the town, and the Tibetan food made it feel like I had left India for a little while.



The next stop on my pilgrimage was Bodhgaya, the most important site in Buddhism. The Mahabodi Temple sits next to the spot where, under the original Bodhi tree, Buddha achieved enlightenment.



This is the replacement Bodhi tree, it was grown from a cutting of the tree I saw in Sri Lanka, which itself was a cutting from the original Bodhi tree.



I didn't come here to sit under a tree all day.



I wanted to buy the full Buddhist monk outfit, but I would look silly wearing it without shaving my head first, so I didn't do it.



Indian Airlines - Gaya to Yangon. A true pilgrimage flight, the only reason this route exists once a week to and from the tiny military airport at Gaya is to give pilgrims from Myanmar the chance to conveniently visit Bodhgaya.



Pilgrims from Myanmar line up to go home.