The wakeup call was at
4am but Fong and I woke up at 1:30am. We packed and had a shower. Breakfast at
4:30am and we departed at 5:30am. It was still dark when we left the hotel.
At around 11:30am we
arrived at the border between India and Nepal. MK went to apply the visa for
us. We went down the bus to explore the local market. At 12:40pm we had our
visa. It was quite a smooth process.
Once we passed the border, we went straight to the ancient Kapilavastu
kingdom. We visited the Eastern and Western gates. Thay TC said he had no connection
in here for the hair cutting ceremony. Thay TC said he felt heavy in his
footsteps, something related the deaths of many Shakyas??? Sagarhawa was the place thousands
of Shakyas were massacred. Sagarhawa
is 12 kms north of the
ancient Kapilavastu kingdom. We visited the Dharmanihawa twin stupas built in the memory of King Suddhodhan and
Queen Mayadevi. We also went to Niglihawa
and Gotihawa. Legend says that Niglihawa was the birthplace of Kanakmuni Buddha
and Gotihawa was the birthplace of Kakrachunda Buddha. It was pitch dark
when we got to our hotel.
The Eastern Gate
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