Bodh Gaya

Bodh Gaya is very different from anywhere else we've been so far. The Buddha was born in India in an area that is now Nepal. In Bodh Gaya, he was sitting under a tree and was enlightened. Buddhism didn't really take off in India, so the majority of the pilgrims here are Thai, Japanese, etc. each country seems to have its own temple. We have seen a Bhutanese temple and a Japanese temple is across the street from our hotel (the Hotel Tokyo) The streets are full of Buddhist monks buying souvenirs. In the temple, the monks are getting their photo taken and praying. Today we went to the temple to spend some time. I found a shady spot on the grass to sit. It felt very calm. A dog came and lay down by me leaning up against my purse. I never touch the street animals, but this dog was so sweet I felt like I should pet him. I was worried he might not be accustomed to being petted so I was careful at first but he liked being petted and didn't even seem dirty. After a while his spot got sunny and he moved to a shady spot near a monk. The monk threw him some cookies.
On the streets here there is a greater variety of animals. In other cities we saw cows and dogs only. Here there are small pigs and goats also. Most of the time people pay very little attention to the animals. They occasionally feed them, but most animals seem to just eat garbage.