thank god their holy men not women..otherwise we'd have a whole bunch of commemorative dug holes

After a day in Varanasi, I headed out to the nearby other holy city of Sarnath. Sarnath is where the Buddha gave his first speech/sermon/insight (whatever you call it).
As befits all holi...whoops holy... men, that spot in a Deer Park is now commemorated by a stupa: a giant pile of stones shaped into a phalic symbol. Supposedly the inside also contains something of the Buddha within. Maybe its a hair or a tooth, I'm not really clear on that point.
In any case, I'm afraid to say that the Buddhist idea of a holy sight appeals to me more. Here there are giant trees and quiet spaces, compared to the dirt and crowded bathing spots back on the Ganges.
After a walk around the Deer Park I retreated two a restaurant where I bought and downed a 2 liter bottle of water in less than an hour. I guess that's what walking in 105 F does to you.
I rickshawed it back to Varanasi to pick up my baggage stored in the train station there and rickshawed again to ANOTHER train station out of town to my next stop DARJEELING!

thank god their holy men not women..otherwise we'd have a whole bunch of commemorative dug holes

Varanasi, India