Bodh Gaya

The train arrived in Gaya around 1am, I got a taxi with an American guy (name forgot) to a hotel called Shanti Lodge. We got a bargain there at 100 Rupees/night.

Bodh Gaya is a Buddhist pilgrimage site and the village contains ten or so Buddhist temples. The main attraction is the Mahabodhi temple in the main square which contains a descendant of the original Bodhi tree under which prince Siddhārtha Gautama attained enlightenment. I sat under the tree for a bit, it was very peaceful but there wasn't any enlightenment for me. There wasn't much else in the village apart from the temples but it was a nice placea so I stayed for three days. I left on the 9th towards Darjeeling.

I got a bus from Bodh Gaya to Patna (4 hours), train from Patna to New Jalpaiguri (14 hours overnight), rickshaw to Siliguri (10 min) and then a bus to Darjeeling (3 hours).