Sleeping in for the first time in a while, we didn’t get up until 9am! We wanted to go to Lumbini tomorrow, but we soon found out that there were actually no tourist buses (Note: In Nepal, there are different ‘types’ of buses, and tourist buses are the most comfortable and reliable. Local buses are more frequent, but are jammed pack with people in the aisles and the seats are very worn, and the windows rattle themselves open after a few bumps on the road) heading to Lumbini. So, we changed our plans and decided to pack up and go to Lumbini today.
Lumbini: This city is generally accepted as the birth place of Sautama Buddha, and hence a religiously significant location for Buddhists. It’s an interesting centre for tourists and a good cultural site to visit.
At the bus station, we got a hand-written ticket at the booth for a bus to Lumbini. The land transport system in Nepal is strange and chaotic, as across the street tucked behind a row of shops, another bus station exists!! Our friend, wanting to go halfway to Lumbini to the town of Tancen, went to the other bus station and took another bus which was headed to Bhairawa, a transfer city for buses to Lumbini. We asked several times to confirm that, their bus goes to Bhairawa and not Lumbini. A bit confused at the whole bus situation, we went back to our bus station attendant to triple confirm that our bus was, indeed going to Lumbini and not Bhairawa…… he lied. Continue reading