BUDDHA'S BIRTHPLACE IN NEPAL

A monk chants under a fig tree at the site of the birthplace of Buddha in Lumbini, Nepal.

Lumbini--the birthplace of Siddhārtha Gautama Buddha, is one of the four most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites (the others being: Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, and Kushinagar). The site and small town nearby also sit conveniently next to the border with India, our next stop, so we decided to visit.

The town itself isn't much, particularly considering its historical significance. The guest house we stayed at was probably the worst of the whole trip, and that's saying something, but at $5 per night, it was almost worth it, mosquitoes and all. The bathroom featured a dirty squat toilet, a leaky tap, and a filthy bucket. And then there was the roach that crawled across Liz's chest in the night. Kip was just annoyed that her yelp woke him up ("Roaches don't bite. Shhhh!"). We've experienced lots of bugs on this trip.

Luxury hotels aside, the temple complex is actually quite nice. The most important site is the Maya Devi Temple (seen above), which has a stone marking the "actual" spot where Queen Mayadevi gave birth to Prince Siddhartha, who later became Buddha.

Due to the number of pilgrims inside, an the fact that they don't allow photos, we can't show the exact stone, but it's inside the white building, where lots of pilgrims come to meditate and worship.

Just outside, a long tree-lined road, cut by a canal, leads on to the Lumbini Peace Pagoda. The area is bordered by a crane sanctuary, a habitat set aside for the rare Sarus Cranes in the area.  We were fortunate enough to see one sqwak and fly over our heads as we rode past on our bicycles.

A Sarus Crane searches for food in the Lumbini Crane Conservation Center next door to Buddha's birthplace.

In addition to a crane sanctuary, there are quite a few signs along the way that we found interesting. One ended up as last week's Funny Monday. This sign, which we wish we could read, seems a bit out of place. Heading into India. That's all for now.

Was Buddha big into wrestling?

Nice that the site includes trash receptacles. Interesting they separate their rottens from non-rottens.

It was a full moon. Almost. It was pretty.

In addition to the cranes, Lumbini is also home to monkeys. Lots of them, actually, living right along the road, but they're far outnumbered by roaches and mosquitoes.

GARBAGE IN THE EVERGLADES

Santa Garbage and his helpers deliver goodies to a nearby dump.

Thanksgiving always seems like the right time to do something good (besides eating, drinking and watching TV). Sure, it's fun to enjoy the holiday and spend some quality time with family...but volunteering...it's so selfless...so benevolent, so...good an excuse to get out of the house and away from the relatives for a while (just kidding, Mom!)

Of course, try explaining that to two elementary school girls on break. Not surprisingly, they'd rather be playing in the pool, hanging with their friends, or throwing crazy DJ-hosted VIP parties in their rooms, than to hang out with their aunt and uncle doing something as "weird" as picking up trash in a local park. Even if said park is the friggin' Everglades, which is about 200 yards from my brother's house in Florida where we were.

So we made a deal with two of the cutest nieces in the world--we all take a bike trip with Tío Kip and Aunt Buzzie (that's us) to Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge to clean up the beach, and we'd agree to play in the pool all afternoon, help them with their homework, and attend a "VIP party" they were hosting at their house (hard bargainers, they are).

Deal.

Nieces Isabele and Chelsea clean up with Tio Kippy.

An airboat passes as Aunt Liz cleans the beach.

The best part of the day, better than all the quality family time and even the fishing later, had to be helping my first grade niece, Chelsea, write an essay about her time volunteering. 

"I wanted to help the birds and the fish that live in the park by my house. My sister, my uncle and I rode our bikes to the park, and they helped me clean up trash on the ground by the water. We put bottles and broken glass in trash bags. A piece of broken glass in a trash bag cut my leg. It hurt a lot, but I didn't quit picking up trash. I kept doing it because I wanted to help the animals that live in the park."

Not bad for a six-year-old. Homework and volunteering over, then it was time for the VIP party with special guest performers Izzy P on the guitar and DJ Chels spinnin' the frisbees. 

Izzy rockin out.

DJ Chels on the frisbees.

Post party, we even managed to squeeze in some bird watching and bass fishing. You gotta love Florida.

Red-shouldered hawk

Turkey vulture 

Nice largemouth bass during Kip's first fishing trip in the Everglades.