Thanks for the post - it’s good to know what one is getting into in terms of expectations! Even when traveling in prime Buddhist territory in Thailand and Japan, I was a bit taken aback at how commercial some of the temples and religious venues were. I went expecting peaceful, calm spaces and found Disneyesque places with more ways of having fortunes told (for extra fees, of course!) than I could ever have imagined!
Thanks for the post - it’s good to know what one is getting into in terms of expectations! Even when traveling in prime Buddhist territory in Thailand and Japan, I was a bit taken aback at how commercial some of the temples and religious venues were. I went expecting peaceful, calm spaces and found Disneyesque places with more ways of having fortunes told (for extra fees, of course!) than I could ever have imagined!
My favorite (seriously) was Chat with a Monk in Chiang Mai.
Wow. This is super interesting. Thanks for background story of how it came to be.
that's creepy. Can I take a bottle of wine, or 2, on the train ride?
What is so creepy? Since you are not driving the train, I believe you can drink while on the train.