Baijnath, Palampor, and a toy train

 Indian buses look just like how you would expect them to look... 

 With only one day per week off from working in the monastery, we looked forward to our Fridays off a lot. Unfortunately, our day in Tso Pema was the last bright sunny day we had on our days off. The next Friday it poured and we did nothing but lay around the monastery and sleep. And the following Friday, after a week of beautiful weather, we woke up to thunderstorms again. But, as my days in India were quickly flying by, I couldn't let my last Friday off from work be ruined by another rain storm. So this time, my Tibetan co-worker, my new American co-worker put on our raincoats and our umbrellas and trudged out into the rain to catch a bus to the nearby town of Baijnath.

The good thing about traveling by bus is that you can go between towns for almost nothing. I think we paid about 20 rupees or so for this bus ride, which is about $0.33. Though, the downside is that the buses are crowded and take more than double the time of driving.

 In Baijnath, there's really only one thing to see, and that is the town's namesake, the Baijnath temple. This is a temple dedicated to Shiva and it is ancient. The temple was constructed in 1204AD and apparently there was even a temple on these grounds before this one was constructed. So, basically folks have been praying here for a really long time.

As uncomfortable as I sometimes feel in temples which are not my own religion, I must say, being in Hindu temples was one of the most uncomfortable experiences for me. I know in a church I should cross myself or kneel in a pew, and I know in a Buddhist temple I should bow a few times, but in a Hindu temple I really have no idea what I should/ should not be doing. There's often a lot of different things going on in different places... people ringing bells, people making offerings, people chanting, etc. etc. Sometimes a lot of people are just sitting around on the floor doing... stuff... that I don't have any clue to even make a guess at what they could be doing. 

Holy Cow

 One thing that I noticed in Hindu temples is that you have to take off your shoes and socks. And not just when entering a building, like in Buddhism, but when entering the temple grounds. Which leads to very cold feet when it's raining, or very painful feet when walking over gravel to get from one part of the temple to another.  

Another thing that India seems to be very strict about is photography in religious places, like temples. There are signs everywhere about no photography, and in Delhi and Dharamsala I had to leave my camera at the front gate of temples. However, here in the country they were a bit less strict, and despite the warnings everywhere about not taking photos, since many Indians were also taking photos I decided I might as well go for it...

 Palampur Bus Station

While the temple was beautiful, it was not so big, so 20 minutes of exploration of the temple was more than plenty. We then had a quick snack and the boarded the next bus headed for the city of Palampur, the nearest 'big city' to our monastery.

We didn't really need to buy anything in particular here, so we just kind of wandered here and there. Since I was kind of in the market for some Punjab style clothes, I kept my eyes open. I missed a few good deals here because I thought I could find something better later... But, the problem (or good thing, however you choose to look at it) with buying clothes in India is that it seems most people prefer tailor made clothes. So, it's very easy to find textile shops and tailors, however, finding shops selling pre-made clothes can be quite challenging. The particular store shown above had a mix of both pre-made clothes and fabrics for tailor made things. 

Cows in India are not just for the country. It's not unusual to find cows even in the middle of the city, sadly eating trash (Though, I'm sure even the country cows are eating a lot of trash, too).  Our region had put a ban on plastic bags because, not only the obvious problem of too much waste, but also because animals like cows often eat them and they are eventually killed by the plastic in their stomachs. However, despite the ban on plastic bags, it was still possible to find them here and there, and there is still plenty of plastic used in packaging. Ah, the joys of consumerism.

 Palampur Toy Train Station

We spent about two hours wondering around Palampur and then it was time to head back. We had heard about the famous "toy train" of Himachal Pradesh and wanted to give it a try.  The train is called a "toy train" because it is a smaller gauge (2ft 6in) than a normal train. The train is also incredibly cheap. From Palampur back to the monastery in Chauntra was just 10 rupees ($ 0.16), though you get what you pay for. The train ride takes nearly triple the time it would take by car.

We checked the schedule online which told us that the train left at 4:30pm from Palampur. Upon arrival, they told us that it would be 4:45, though I shouldn't have been surprised when we took off no later than 5:00pm. The train inside was basic, but it had a toilet in each car. We were lucky to get seats, as one person offered us his seat because he was getting off soon. Otherwise, at least one of us would have been standing for the ride. 

Upon reaching Baijnath, the train stopped and all the people cleared out. It seems as though most people only go as far as Baijnath. We waited in the train car for a little while, but finally we got impatient and went outside. We were quite surprised to find that besides our car and the one after our car, the rest of the train was gone! We bought some chai and street food and waited patiently for our engine to reappear. It finally did, and they coupled the train back up again, this time which much fewer cars and filled with much fewer people.

 Tracks near the "swimming pool" during the day...

We continued the rest of our ride back to Chauntra and arrived at the "swimming pool", which is what the locals refer to as the reference point for the station. The "station" is not on any road and there are no signs. Basically, to find it, you've got to walk down a hill behind a house, then keep walking down until you find the tracks. Then follow the tracks until you find a tiny hut on the side of the tracks. That tiny hut is the station and it happens to be across from a swimming pool. So, if you ask locals where to catch the train, they may tell you to go down to the swimming pool.

We arrived around 7:30pm, in the rain and pitch black night. Had to use my cell phone flash light to find the way back up to the road and back to the monastery. While it wasn't the most exciting day in India, it was good to get out of the monastery, despite the rain.

Tso Pema/ Relwasar Part 2: Around the Lake

 After our expedition to the caves, we headed over to the town of Tso Pema to continue our exploration of this holy town. Our first stop was Zigar Drukpa Kagyud Monastery. This is a new temple dedicated to Padmasambhava. The big guy behind me in the photo, is of course Padmasambhava, which as I mentioned in my last post is considered a second Buddha.This giant statue is quite new, it was just completed in 2011.

The temple overelooks the lake, Tso Pema, where Padmasambhava supposedly was reborn in a lotus flower (Tso- Lake, Pema- Lotus). The lake is quite small, it takes just 10-15 minutes to circumambulate.

Circumambulate, by the way, was a word I've had to learn here living with Tibetans (Kora in Tibetan), which means to walk around a temple or holy place in a clockwise motion, something which is always done whenever possible. We generally walk around our temple after meals as a general sort of habit. Someone suggested to us that we circumambulate the lake in Tso Pema fifteen times. However, we actually did it just twice, mostly incidentally because we were walking around the town and trying to visit all the temples.

There was something poetic about these tiny little boys riding their bikes in front of the "Danger: Non-Ionizing Radiation" sign. Not sure what that means, and I'm guessing it's not particularly dangerous, but it just looks and sounds scary...

The next temple we visited was very special. This temple is called Zangdok Palri Palace Monastery and my Tibetan co-teacher belives it to be an actual 3-D mandala thanks to it's seemingly purposely colored walls of blue, green, white and red; and its temple upon temple upon temple construction. The palace is actually three temples stacked on top of one another. 

Red and green (blue?) walls of the palace monastery

Buddha of the main hall in the Palace Monastery

In fact, just around the lake, there are at least four Tibetan temples and monasteries. The photo above was taken in the last one. While here the architecture was not as spectacular as some of the other temples, they did have prayer wheels around the whole exterior of the temple. There is something really great feeling about spinning a wheel, which may or may not have something to do with the Buddhist mantras inside that activate for your salvation when you spin them. 

But as I mentioned before in my first post, Tso Pema/ Relwasar is not just famous to Tibetans, it is also important in Hinduism and Sikhism. Here, above, you can see one of the many Hindu temples around the lake. I don't know much about about these temples, but they are sure fun to look at and walk around!


To get here, we rented a private taxi to pick us up early in the morning at 6:30 am and take us there and back. This was convenient to visit the caves and do everything within a few hours as we only had one day. The price for the driver was Rs1,900, or $30USD to take us from Chauntra (between Bir and Joginder Nagar) to Tso Pema. However, there are public buses which are much cheaper that can take you as well. The town is just 30 minutes from Mandi, a moderate sized city in Himachal Pradesh.

A hike to Sujong Temple 수종사

Since Buddha's Birthday is just around the corner, on May 17th, we thought it would only be fitting to take a trip up to Sujong Temple/ 수종사. We've been wanting to go here for a while. We see it every time we drive home from Yangsuri, as it's sitting high up on the side of 운길산 (Ungilsan mountain) overlooking the junction of the north and south Han rivers.

To get up to the top, there are several options. There is a road, and many chose to drive up, however hiking may be more rewarding. Small hiking paths zig-zag all over the mountain and they often cross back to the road. We hiked up a combination of both road and hiking paths.

Finally, after about 45 minutes of hiking, we caught our first glimpse of the temple from afar.

Another 10 minutes of hiking up we finally got to the temple. As with most temples at this time of year, the path was decorated with lanterns for Buddha's Birthday.

The temple is most renown for it's view looking over Yangsuri, however with the hazy skies yesterday it was hard to make out much below.

However, despite being famous for the view, it also has an impressive legend to go along with it as well. In 1458, King Sejo was passing through Yangsuri and stayed there overnight. During the night, he heard the sound of a bell, but upon asking the villagers in the morning where the bell sound came from they said it could not have come from the village. Perhaps, though, it could have come from an abandoned temple on Ungilsan, they told him. He sent his men to investigate and they came across a cave filled with Buddhist sculptures... and water dropping that made a bell-like sound. After this, the temple was born with the name 수종사 (水鐘寺) or 'Water Bell Temple'. 

 水- 수/Su/Water

 鐘- 종/Jong/Bell 

寺- 사/Sa/ Temple

It's quite easy to get here from Seoul. Take the Jungang Line to Ungilsan station (50 mins from Wangsimni Station). Come out of exit 1, turn left and take the first street to the right. Follow the street and you will eventually come to signs pointing to the hiking trails to the temple. It's approximately 1 hour hiking to the temple and you can walk up the road or the hiking trails, whichever is more comfortable for you.

Buddha's Birthday at Silleuksa, Yeoju

 Outside the entrance to Silleuksa

This year for Buddha's Birthday, we found ourselves at Silleuksa (신륵사) temple again. This is our second time to visit this famous temple in Yeoju and it turned out to be a great place to celebrate the holiday. There were tons of people and tons of activities to be do and sights to be seen. 

 Pouring water over Buddha's head

First thing first we headed into the temple to look around. it was quite different than our last visit, 3 months ago. Last time we were here, there were no leaves on the trees, not many people to be found and not nearly as many lanterns to be had. This time it was the opposite. Beautiful scenery, packed with people and of course full of lanterns.

Hanging messages on the lanterns

Silleuksa is a rather special temple because, not only is it ancient dating back to the Silla dynasty, but it is also one of the few temples in Korea that was built along a river rather than in a mountain. It's fame brings a lot of visitors to this particular temple, hence the number of events happening this Buddha's Birthday.

Loads of people were enjoying the riverfront views from the temple. Folks on the other side of the river seemed to be enjoying the water itself. The river was filled with swan boats and one speed boat zooming around giving the swan boats some exciting waves.

A view of the Namhangang (South Han River) alongside Silleuksa

 Temple volunteers preparing our bibimbap lunch 

And, of course, perhaps the best part of Buddha's Birthday is the free temple food. Guaranteed to be 100% vegetarian. We were served bibimbap with big pieces of ddeok (rice cake).

Bibim-ing our bap

Hanja woodblock prints

Making a Dalma woodblock print 

After we had our fill of food and temples, we headed out to do some of the activities outside the temple grounds. There were plenty of activities and crafts to try, but I just tried two, a block print of Dalma (also known as Bodhidharma , the monk who brought Buddhism to China) and, of course, a lotus lantern.

 Me and Dalma

 Lotus lantern pro... 

Lanterns are the most typical craft around Buddha's Birthday and it wasn't just for kids either. Young and old all gathered around the lantern making table to make their own lotus lantern. 

Me and my lotus lantern

How did you spend your Buddha's Birthday? Be sure to spend your next Buddha's Birthday at your nearest temple to make the most of this holiday!