Day 16 – Jan.1 – 2019 – Sarnath – India

Day 16 – Jan. 1, 2019 – Today we drove out to a nearby ancient Buddhist learning center. It is cold.

This is where Gautama Buddha preached his first sermon.

We then visited the Sarnath Museum. It is closed Fridays, by the way. It is full of very beautiful and interesting stone carvings of all sizes. Ahoka’s Lion Capital, the National Emblem of India, is here.

The Teaching Buddha statue is here also. It is considered to be one of the most beautiful sculptures in the world.

The grounds are full of many destroyed building foundations. One building is left standing and is of an unusual shape. It is a sad tale of destruction here, over time and one wonders what it might have looked like if it had not been destroyed.

Tonight is our last night together and we have all become well acquainted with each other and count some as friends. It is our last super.

We had a surprise after dinner. We were taken to a conference room and had a private sitar concert. A man and a younger fellow who played the drums made some great music for us to help remember India. The older fellow is well known and knew Ravi Shankar and others in the music world. It was very good. The drummer was very good and I was surprised due to his youth. My mistake.  One of our travel companions was a female navy band conductor. I suppose it was even more special for here because of her background in music.

Sadly we all go off to different points of the compass tomorrow. A few are off to Nepal. We have been there and know they will all love it.

Some had started in the south of India and added on this portion and then went on further north. They are real troopers and we hope that they have a wonderful time.

Others, like us, go back to our own reality which isn’t such a bad thing after all. We have made new memories with new friends. My wife and I are still best friends and lovers after 35 years of marriage, years of raising a son and traveling to and through many places.

Remember to take some time for yourself once in a while and be nice to every stranger you meet. They will remember your kindness. Good Karma comes easily.

We still have many places to travel to and see. We are off to the Stans in April.

That’s not a bad reality to come home to.

Remember to look at my novels here on this site. They are part fiction and most of the locations are places that I have been to over the years.

I am now on Facebook at R.C. Hand. I would like to hear comments on writing, good books and maybe even “talk shop” a little.

Just try to remember that your opinion is worth about as much as people pay for it and be pleasant.