Sounds of Bodh Gaya

Funny how you can see a place once you leave it, and hear it...

-shrill blasts of bus horns
-bicycle bells
-clammering of tractors crashing down the street and their engines
-dogs howling all at once during the night
-cows
-hammers and saws
-loud, high-pitched, techno Hindi music at all hours
-Muslim call to prayer at sunrise and sunset, amplified
-goats, like disturbed children screaming or throwing up
-deep, droning recorded/live chanting at Mahabodhi, emnating from gates or nearby CD sellers, "Buddham, Saranam, Gachaami..."
-bell, 10 min. before class
-see previous list of phrases: shouted at you
-phlegm-hacking, coughing, and spitting of monks and pilgrims at Vihar
-mysterious creaks and movements in the night always possibly attributable to either:
a)hungry ghosts which are known to frequent the charnel grounds near the river across the street from the Vihar, or
b)Burmese pilgrims who keep odd hours, can be found up at any time
-chanting and instrumentation of full moon celebration "Hare, Hare, Hare, Krishna, Hare..."
-drums in the street for funeral processions
-microphone-amplified Hindi voice in the street for public announcements

-Written from Bir, the quietest place I've ever been

Added by Noa:

-"Hello! Washing?" from Balya Devi, the beautiful old washer woman with crinkles and light in her face.
-the sawmill next to the Vihar
-occasional wisps of otherworldly harmonium duets from the rooms of students who aren't supposed to make music in the Vihar
-someone who practices the synthesizer in a nearby village either has an amp of epic proportions or hooks their keyboard up to the village PA system