Day out not at Vulture Peak

We set off to Vulture Peak in the bus. The journey was through Bodh Gaya, Bodh, and other towns, all of which were extremely congested, with narrow town streets. The journey thus took a time, though the impression was that it was not a vast distance. 

The three places we were going to visit were Vulture Peak, the Sattapanni caves, and the Bamboo Grove. When we got there, it was clear it was going to be a hot day, that Vulture Peak was accessible by cable car or on foot, that the cave only by foot, and in terms of relevance, the caves were more interesting. As a result, the group universally opted to do the caves first, and follow these up with the other sites. So, after a little preparation, we started off up the hill - a climb of 2-300m with steps all the way up. Among other things, I was using the assent to assess my level of fitness and stamina ready for the Himalayan trekking I intend to do in July/August. I was not surprised, but was a little disturbed to find that these were poorer than I thought, even though I had thought them bad. At the same time, I was getting comments from the others in the group about my racing ahead  so much faster than the rest could manage.

The caves and their immediate surroundings, which is where the first Buddhist council was held, must have changed over the years. The caves are very small, and the only real place to meet is the small plateau in front of them. In modern times there just isn't enough ground to hold any size of gathering. 

The picture above may include the Bamboo Grove, as I was not sure exactly where it lay when I took the photo. It does show something I haven't seen before - a Jain temple.

On our return to the valley most people went onto the Bamboo Grove, but nobody was motivated to go up Vulture Peak. Just too hot and tired after going up the peak with the caves.