Ayodhya is the birthplace of Lord Ram and one of the seven holy cities in India. I had taken the bus from Agra to Lucknow and had been successful in getting on a bus to Ayodhya right away. I got off the bus at Faizabad which is 8 km before Ayodhya and got on a tempo(open cab) which safely dropped me at the junction from where I had to walk to the hostel.
I checked in and was treated quiet kindly by the owner. He offered to serve lunch for me after I had freshened up and gave me good tips on when to begin my visit to the exact spot lord Ram was born. In the year 1992, Hindus in the area had torn down a mosque built in the 15th century claiming that it stood on the same grounds of lord Rama's birthplace. They have built a small shrine in its place since all work for a temple is on hold till the government is done with its investigations. Security here is very tight with police and army working from the time the temple opens to closing at 6pm. There are several checkpoints including 3 pat downs at different locations. No camera is allowed, a small money purse is all you can take in. So alas no pictures. Even though no temple yet marks the spot of Ram's birth, there are several temples in the area. A few for example is Bharat's temple, Raja Dasarth Bhavan,Ka ak Bhavan, Sita temple and the famous Hanumangarhi. Hopefully all disputes get settled and a proper Ram Janam Bhumi can be constructed to celebrate Lord Ram's birthplace.
Ayodhya is a very quiet and small town. I later visited the Surja river or saroya as some may call it. This is the place where Ram ended his incarnation and returned to heaven to become one with Vishnu. It is also a holy river.
I had a huge craving for Okra curry and some how upon getting lost I ended up at the vegetable market. I gladly bought a kilo of Okra and decided to find my way home. I had gone about 200 meters when I sensed something pulling on the okra bag and was shocked to find a monkey. He grabbed the bag and ran off with it. Strangers watching warned me not to run after them as they might bite. So there goes the Okra.I returned empty handed but was glad to find that the hotel had once again prepared a warm meal for me as well. It was a warm night and I was tired from my bus rides and quickly fell asleep.
Next morning , the plan was to get to Varanasi. I woke up around 7 and made my way to the train station which was about a 100 meters away. Bought a general ticket as the owner had mentioned that the trains here weren't very busy so I would easily get a seat without the pushing and shoving as before. He happened to be right and I found a comfortable seat right away. The 6 hour ride went by quick. I still wasn't impressed by the rail system and needing more warming up.
The Varanasi station is quiet huge and my god, the number of people here is overwhelming. I made my way to the tourist office to get information on my plans for the next few days. I was given a map and asked as to where I wanted to travel. I could make train reservations next door and this was good news. I walked through the glass doors to a cool room with 2 men sitting in front of computers. They spoke to me in English and asked what I wanted to do. I requested that I wanted to make train reservations and presented them my passport upon request.The India tourist agency has foreign tourist quota tickets that are saved for foreign visitors. This definitely makes live a little easier for people like us who struggle with the transportation system here in India. After making my reservations, I headed towards the prepaid taxi area to find a way to get to my hotel.
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