Lumbini, the last major Buddhist pilgrimage site of this trip, is actually in Nepal. In order to reach this town from Kushinagar, a 5-hour bus journey is required. The group started out early at 6am that day and headed west towards Gorakhpur before going up north. After 3 hours (it was a relatively "quick" for me because I slept through the entire journey!), we finally arrived at the Sunauli (India)/Belahiya (Nepal) border post. Like typical land border crossings in Asia, citizens from both countries walk across the border as if they were crossing a road. As we were told that Indian Customs do not usually stamp on tourists' passports especially when they are just doing a short visit to Lumbini (anyway, got my India departure stamp upon coming back as I wanted one for souvenir), the bus stopped on the Nepali side and the tour guide handled all formalities which includes the issue of the Nepali visa (US$25/S$38.50, 30-day multiple entry).

Upon clearance from the customs, the bus headed straight for Hotel Nirvana in Siddhartha Nagar (a.k.a. Bhairawa) as we took a break for lunch. Had a quick walk and Bhairawa looks generally like an Indian town though there were more fair-skinned Nepalese. Most of the shops were "closed" (though they were actually doing business with their half-opened shuttles) as there was a strike.

Although Lumbini was the last major site that we had visited, it is actually the first site that was mentioned in the suttas. This is the location that marks the spot where Queen Maya Devi (of Kapilavastu) gave birth to a certain prince named Gautama Siddhartha, who would later leave home at the age of 29 in pursuit of the truth and attainted enlightenment eventually. The main sight, Maya Devi Temple (admission: NRs50/S$1, camera fee: US$1/S$1.54), consists of a brick pavilion that is protecting a commemorative stone (laid down by Emperor Ashoka) denoting the exact location where Lord Buddha was born, a sacred pond where the queen was believed to have bathed before giving birth and a sacred garden with ruined foundations of various stupas and monasteries. It was a nice place, but I certainly did not have that much affinity that I have with Kushinagar.

As time was very short (doesn't this reminds you of a typical photo stop?), we spent only 2 hours in the temple compounds (did not have any time to visit the many monasteries that littered around the West and East Monastic zone) and returned to India. It was a shame that so little time was spent here (which makes it more painful when we had paid US$25 for a visa). Maybe the organisers were concerned with the security since there was an ongoing strike. Nepal is not India afterall.