Sarnath

Today, I visited/took a day trip to Sarnath. It is where Buddha bhagvan fist gave his sermons to his 5 disciples originally. It is such a beautiful place and well preserved after excavations. I loved the archeological place where there are many monastaries and original temples. I sat under a tree and took couple mini naps. It was so serene and peaceful. I walked around a ton and had 2 rounds of chana chor garam!! Yumm.. Had a great time overall and was impressed. The museum was well kept. What bothered me is the habit of spitting. I have noticed in UP..well Banaras and surrounding areas..people(men) spit every 5sec literally. It is so gross and disrespectful to mother Earth and fellow people. Even in the buddhist temple or statuegrounds..the security guard kept spitting. And he had the guts to tell me not to sit on the edge of the walkway. I was tired and was not violating any rules. He was!! I felt like going off on him giving him a lecture...but then I was like this is a sacred area of buddhism so peace shall br attained....boy was I mad. But also cooled down fast. i dont stay mad for long. It feels better to be chilled. Then I kept walking and walked to this Jain temple!! Then Buddhist temple and the tre under which Sidharth Gautam..aka Buddha...gave his 1st sermon!! Then I was so tired by then. So I took shuttle rikshaw to get back. Here is the thing! You could be a typical tourist and spend over 100rs on private rikshaw or more on cab..or you could take a shared rikshaw to different junctions or towns/areas and keep connecting to other shuttles until you make it to your destination!...which is what I did. Only 30rs to get from my hostel to sarnath! And 35 to get back! Score!! i love discovering new routes!! I got to meet and know some local as well as travelling folks today!:) now, I have officially prayed in Hindu temples (thats a given lol), Jewish synagogue, Buddhist temple, Christian church/Catholic cathedrals, Jain temple, and Muslim mosque. I learned to say sarva dharma prayer at Manav Sadhna...and now I feel I have lived it. I feel so happy and content. I have all I wanted...that is the feeling. Plus I shifted from a hostel far from the river to one on the river banks...or close enough! I liked the other hostel a lot but the location made me shift as I want to be able to be on the ghats for sunrise and see aarti at sunset in the main ghat. Hopefully tomorow I can.