Word: buddhistically
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...fact, a vibrant international destination for families and individuals from across Thailand and around the world. Gone are the days of catering to American G.I.s and in are the days of honeymooners, independent backpackers, and families of all cultures. With water parks, shopping malls, nearby tropical islands, sailboating, zoos, Buddhist temples, water sports and several world-class 18-hole golf courses, there is little doubt why the young European family I met the other day has returned on four different occasions...
Going to Bodh Gaya takes not just faith but also a pinch of bravery. The city, like many other key Buddhist sites, is located in the state of Bihar, the poorest and most backward part of India. Pilgrims must endure bad roads, scenes of grinding poverty--and lawlessness. Because Bihar is infested with Maoist guerrillas, all travel has to be completed by evening, and it's insane to be on the roads outside the city at night...
Bodh Gaya has benefited the most, but the pilgrim business, like a magic wand, is transforming places all along the Buddhist circuit. Kushinagar, in Uttar Pradesh, appears at first glance to be another no-hope town: many of the sugar mills that employed the townspeople have recently closed, and unemployment is rampant. Yet the town is seeing a real estate boom, roads are markedly better than anywhere around and children go to well-maintained schools. Kushinagar is where the Buddha died, and pilgrims come to see the gilded statue that commemorates the spot where the Buddha attained nirvana as well...
Like every shopkeeper and hotel manager on the Buddhist trail, Yadav complains that the government could be doing more: although India's central and state governments insist that promoting the Buddhist trail is a priority, most of the connecting roads are poor, trains don't run on time, tourists who face problems won't get any help from the police and finding foreign exchange is often impossible...
...deer park and preach for the first time. By daytime the deer park is unimpressive. As the sun sets, though, the brick ruins of the monasteries glow incandescently amid the lush green grass. Just beyond the park's walls, a peacock climbs the roof of a Burmese Buddhist monastery to watch the sunset. In the other corner, near a statue of the Buddha preaching to his first five disciples, visitors gather around a monk who starts reciting the master's first sermon. As you listen, it is as if 2,500 years have been rolled back and you are hearing...