Friday 30th April 2010
7.45am
Outdoor dining table, the Korean monastery
Lumbini, Nepal
No Diary entry for 3 days so this morning a bumper edition.
I've travelled for 12 hours by bus from Kathmandu back to the place I started in in Nepal.
The Korean monastery in Lumbini (the birthplace of Buddha) in Nepal.
I stay here for four days prior to going to Kathmandu.
To be brief, for two pounds fifty per night I can stay here as long as I want. I get almost unlimited tea and three meals a day. The food is all vegetarian, lots of rice and mixed veg. Sometimes they serve fruit, usually bananas with the ends cut off and also curd. I love curd. A yoghurt like substance that goes great with jam, honey, sugar and/or some fruit.
Meal times are strict, 6am breakfast, 1130am lunch, 6pm dinner. It's up to me if I attend each meal though.
Every diner serves themselves and then washes their own plates and cutlery. Guests cannot eat until the monks and nuns have served themselves first.
The actual temple here is still under construction, right now it is a large outer shell of concrete several floors high. Instead of emitting the sound of prayers being read it emits the sound of power drills hard at work.
Other parts of the complex are long finished, like the monks quarters and meditation rooms, guests rooms and dormitories too. Everyday dozens of workers arrive by bicycle to continue work on the temple. It'll look great when it's done.
This is a Korean temple. So many guests are Korean or from other Asian countries. There are some Europeans but not as many. Because meal times are set everyone often eats together, meeting people is easy.
Despite the power drills it's a peaceful and friendly place. The temple is in the middle of a huge park which includes spot where Buddha was born.
In addition to the Korean temple there are Buddhist temples representing all Buddhist (and some non-Buddhist) countries here. So China, Japan, Thailand and even Germany and the USA have put up or are in the process of putting up temples here.
The site has a museum, and a library that I will start regularly visiting to make use of their book on Buddhism. They've a great reading room.
The monks and nuns are all Korean where I am staying, while many of the staff are probably Nepali though they look Indian. The border with India is only one hour away.
Lumbini is on the Nepalese terai (or plains) so no spectacular mountain scenery here.
The 250 acre park that everything is in is still being developed, so there are some daily tourists, but not many.
During my first stay here, for four days, I was able to go to the top of the temple and enjoy the view a cross the whole park. The Korean temple, when complete, will be the highest one here.
Now my mornings here will consist of drinking tea - I've a blow of it in front of me now. Black, no milk r sugar. They'll also consist of reading books. I picked up a lot of books in Kathmandu, more details on them later.
Afternoons will consist of library visits where I'll learn about the history of Buddhism and the practices of it. I may be here two weeks.
In Kathmandu only a couple of good things happened. I got my trainers fixed by a man in the street who had some glue; he was Indian and from Delhi. I bought lots of books to read, and I bumped into a girl I met travelling in India over a month ago. She's very nice, always positive and open minded, we shared a coffee and this time I remembered to get her e-mail address.
I got sick of Kathmandu, of being viewed as a big white walking ATM. All I did was and eat overpriced unhealthy food. I guess that doesn't sound so bad really, but I was doing it for two reasons, and one of them was because of stress and not enjoyment.
Hiking can wait. I've no energy for it. Nor have I energy for the persistent hassle in the street. In India I kind of got used to it because I expected it, but I thought Kathmandu would be quieter.
I just want to read and eat healthy food now. Some Coke would be nice too.
I booked my flight home - June 7th from Delhi.
In front of me now are two books.
What Would Buddha Do? by Franz Metcalf
The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple
My hands are still peeling from the sunburn I picked up in Varanasi weeks ago.
I'll think a lot about my future while I am here this time. About what to do, and about whether I'll do anything at all really.
It feels like ages since I arrived in India from Singapore, which was 5 or 6 weeks ago.
It feels like a whole lifetime since I was in Beijing which was a little over 2 months ago.
My life in South Korea seems like a distant memory of ancient times, almost biblical and shrouded in myth; it could be compared to a childhood memory that has slowly faded away into a vague incomplete picture in my mind.
As for life in England, did it really happen?
Was it all a dream?
Have I died and been reborn?
My former life in England feels as distant and remote as the stars in the sky.
7.45am
Outdoor dining table, the Korean monastery
Lumbini, Nepal
No Diary entry for 3 days so this morning a bumper edition.
I've travelled for 12 hours by bus from Kathmandu back to the place I started in in Nepal.
The Korean monastery in Lumbini (the birthplace of Buddha) in Nepal.
I stay here for four days prior to going to Kathmandu.
To be brief, for two pounds fifty per night I can stay here as long as I want. I get almost unlimited tea and three meals a day. The food is all vegetarian, lots of rice and mixed veg. Sometimes they serve fruit, usually bananas with the ends cut off and also curd. I love curd. A yoghurt like substance that goes great with jam, honey, sugar and/or some fruit.
Meal times are strict, 6am breakfast, 1130am lunch, 6pm dinner. It's up to me if I attend each meal though.
Every diner serves themselves and then washes their own plates and cutlery. Guests cannot eat until the monks and nuns have served themselves first.
The actual temple here is still under construction, right now it is a large outer shell of concrete several floors high. Instead of emitting the sound of prayers being read it emits the sound of power drills hard at work.
Other parts of the complex are long finished, like the monks quarters and meditation rooms, guests rooms and dormitories too. Everyday dozens of workers arrive by bicycle to continue work on the temple. It'll look great when it's done.
This is a Korean temple. So many guests are Korean or from other Asian countries. There are some Europeans but not as many. Because meal times are set everyone often eats together, meeting people is easy.
Despite the power drills it's a peaceful and friendly place. The temple is in the middle of a huge park which includes spot where Buddha was born.
In addition to the Korean temple there are Buddhist temples representing all Buddhist (and some non-Buddhist) countries here. So China, Japan, Thailand and even Germany and the USA have put up or are in the process of putting up temples here.
The site has a museum, and a library that I will start regularly visiting to make use of their book on Buddhism. They've a great reading room.
The monks and nuns are all Korean where I am staying, while many of the staff are probably Nepali though they look Indian. The border with India is only one hour away.
Lumbini is on the Nepalese terai (or plains) so no spectacular mountain scenery here.
The 250 acre park that everything is in is still being developed, so there are some daily tourists, but not many.
During my first stay here, for four days, I was able to go to the top of the temple and enjoy the view a cross the whole park. The Korean temple, when complete, will be the highest one here.
Now my mornings here will consist of drinking tea - I've a blow of it in front of me now. Black, no milk r sugar. They'll also consist of reading books. I picked up a lot of books in Kathmandu, more details on them later.
Afternoons will consist of library visits where I'll learn about the history of Buddhism and the practices of it. I may be here two weeks.
In Kathmandu only a couple of good things happened. I got my trainers fixed by a man in the street who had some glue; he was Indian and from Delhi. I bought lots of books to read, and I bumped into a girl I met travelling in India over a month ago. She's very nice, always positive and open minded, we shared a coffee and this time I remembered to get her e-mail address.
I got sick of Kathmandu, of being viewed as a big white walking ATM. All I did was and eat overpriced unhealthy food. I guess that doesn't sound so bad really, but I was doing it for two reasons, and one of them was because of stress and not enjoyment.
Hiking can wait. I've no energy for it. Nor have I energy for the persistent hassle in the street. In India I kind of got used to it because I expected it, but I thought Kathmandu would be quieter.
I just want to read and eat healthy food now. Some Coke would be nice too.
I booked my flight home - June 7th from Delhi.
In front of me now are two books.
What Would Buddha Do? by Franz Metcalf
The Last Mughal by William Dalrymple
My hands are still peeling from the sunburn I picked up in Varanasi weeks ago.
I'll think a lot about my future while I am here this time. About what to do, and about whether I'll do anything at all really.
It feels like ages since I arrived in India from Singapore, which was 5 or 6 weeks ago.
It feels like a whole lifetime since I was in Beijing which was a little over 2 months ago.
My life in South Korea seems like a distant memory of ancient times, almost biblical and shrouded in myth; it could be compared to a childhood memory that has slowly faded away into a vague incomplete picture in my mind.
As for life in England, did it really happen?
Was it all a dream?
Have I died and been reborn?
My former life in England feels as distant and remote as the stars in the sky.