Varanasi and Bodh Gaya — 3 Nights from Ganga to Bodhi Tree

You are met at Varanasi’s airport at Babatpur, which the district administration puts 22 km out of town, or at the station your train uses, and driven to the hotel. The evening is for the Ganga aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat. Vehicles are held back from the riverfront, so the last part is on foot through the lanes; the ceremony itself, tiers of lamps raised towards the water, lasts forty-five minutes on the Ministry of Tourism’s figure. This is the trip’s only evening in Varanasi, so choose a flight or train that arrives by early afternoon. High water during the rains can push it up onto higher ground.

Out before sunrise. Provided boats are on the water that morning, an hour on the river shows you the length of the ghats while Varanasi starts its day. Then breakfast, and away by mid-morning. The road is National Highway 19, the old Grand Trunk Road, east through Mohania and Sasaram into south Bihar, turning north at Dobhi: some 240 to 250 km, for which we allow about six hours with a break. The lake-set tomb of Sher Shah Suri in Sasaram is an optional detour. If there is light and energy left on arrival, take a first look at the Mahabodhi Temple, which stays open until 9 pm.

Start early, when the complex is quiet and the morning chanting is under way. Leave your phone at the hotel, take off your shoes and walk down into the grounds: the brick temple, the Bodhi tree beside it, the stone seat called the Vajrasana, and the marked places where tradition has the Buddha spend the seven weeks after his enlightenment. After a midday rest, see three or four of the monasteries built by Buddhist communities from other countries, and the Great Buddha Statue. The Sujata stupa across the river and the Dungeshwari caves are optional extras by car. The temple at dusk is worth a second visit.

The temple opens at 5 am, so one more visit before breakfast is easy if you want it. Then check out for the drop: Gaya airport, which the Airports Authority puts 5 km from Bodh Gaya, or Gaya Junction station, about 16 km away, for which we allow up to an hour. Flights from Gaya are few and do not run every day, so settle your onward ticket before you confirm the trip. Where Gaya does not work, we can quote a drop at Patna airport, three to four hours by road, or a return to Varanasi. The trip ends at the drop.