Bardia NP to Lumbini - Day 8
We opted for an early start for the day and by 7:45 AM we were on the road to Lumbini. We were travelling along the road we came in on but everything looked so different from the other direction. The first hour was pretty uneventful and the road had little traffic. Before long we started to come across more populated towns and villages. This is normally where all the fun starts. Well there was almost an incident with Ann where a scooter decided to ride across the road directly in front of her. She avoided a collision by mere inches, and was pretty shaken by the experience. It seems everyone was out to cause havoc today with several near misses to most of our group including myself. But this is pretty much a normal day riding here we are told. We came to a halt half way up one of the mountains where a bus had missed a turn and slammed head on into the side of the hill. It looked pretty nasty for the driver and no one was there so it must have happened a while back.
A few leg stretches and we eventually stopped for lunch and fuel. The lunch stop had a very nice restaurant and the food was certainly up to the standard we have been getting everywhere on this trip. Michael found out how hot the Nepali Chillies are and I think his mouth is still burning as I write this. Back on the road after lunch and we passed all the goat herds grazing on the side of the road and the cattle just roaming free. Yesterday we asked our guide how they keep the goats and animals safe from the tigers and panthers. She said they sleep in the house to protect them. I remember when we toured Russia the houses had an area of the house for the animals, but that was to keep them out of the cold. Well riding along and I see a woman leading the goats out of the house.
Riding through the country here and you start to think about the simple life these people live compared to ours. We expect technology everywhere we go, flushing toilets, hot and cold running water, electricity, and a 9-5 job. Does this make us happier than these people? They have squats and are not necessarily connected to a sewer system. Water is whatever they can collect when it rains or get it from a town water supply. Cooking arrangements can vary from a gas hotplate to a simple wood stove. In some cases, their day consists of working the fields, collecting wood for the fire, tending the animals and collecting food for them. There also seems to be a lot of people working on the road maintenance. Whether they are paid or not I don't know but we have seen old women carting bags of cement or rocks to build retaining walls.
Unfortunately the western influence has also made its mark here with copious amounts of plastic and rubbish littering the road ways and water ways.Maybe these climate activists who glue themselves to the roads in downtown Adelaide should come here and make a difference instead of being a pain in the A$$ to everyone. Rant for the week.
Anyway back to the ride. We arrived at Lumbini around 430 PM, checked into our rooms and headed to the shower. Lumbini is the birthplace of Buddha and as such one would expect to see a lot of references to Buddha here. Just as we were coming to the entrance we saw a lot of Buddhist Monks walking along the road toward the town. There were a few different flags I could see and recognised the Thai flag immediately. Tomorrow we will venture around and see some of the temples but for now We might have a quiet night in after last night's festivities.
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