| Day 1: Friday, USA/Europe | | Depart to Europe and begin your journey to the places where Buddhism originated in India and Nepal, and the island where Buddhism went through rejuvenation still evident in the majestic antiquities and colorful culture of Sri Lanka. | | | | | Day 2: Saturday, Europe/Colombo | | Arrive in Europe and connect with your Sri Lankan Airlines jumbo jet to Colombo. | | | | | Day 3: Sunday, Colombo, Sri Lanka | | Land in Sri Lanka, molded by the Buddha’s teachings for more than 2200 years. You are greeted on arrival and driven to your city resort. | | HOTEL: Transasia (B, D) | | | | Day 4: Monday, Kurunegala/Ritigala/Habarana | | Begin your Buddhist circuit at the 13th century capital, Kurunegala. Visit Ridi Vihare, the “Silver Temple”, built in a cave in the 2nd century BC. See the golden Buddha, Kandyan moonstone and other fine artworks, and then check into your country lodge. Later tour Ritigala, an ancient forest hermitage site. Stroll the winding meditation paths and explore the caves and passages of an ancient monastery, partly restored and partly engulfed by jungle. | | HOTEL: The Lodge (B, D) | | | | Day 5: Tuesday, Habarana, Anuradhapura & Mihintale | | Visit Buddhism’s eternal city, Anuranhadpura, and join the throng of worshipers to meditate before the sacred Bo Tree, grown from a branch of the tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment. See the remains of the great Sinhala civilization that flourished here for 1400 years, including dagobas as high as Egypt’s pyramids. A special afternoon features Mihintale, where Buddhism began in Sri Lanka when the king was converted in 247 BC. Granite steps lead to ancient shrines and splendid views. | | HOTEL: The Lodge (B, D) | | | | Day 6: Wednesday, Nalanda/Aluvihara/Kandy | | Depart to Nalanda to visit Sri Lanka’s first building of entirely stone construction, a rare gedige in the Hindu-Buddhist Pallava style. Learn how and why the shrine was built, and how it was moved to escape submersion by an irrigation project. Continue to Aluvihara, where the teachings of Buddha were first written down in the 1st century BC. Then it’s on through scenic terraced hills to Kandy, where a special evening is planned at a shrine of great reverence, the Temple of the Tooth. View the seven golden caskets, in which this sacred relic is kept, then witness a torchlit cultural pageant and fire-walking display. | | HOTEL: The Citadel (B, D) | | | | Day 7: Thursday, Kandy, Galadadeniya Viharaya, | | Lankatilaka Viharaya, & Embekke Devale
Today tour three historic temples of the Kandyan kingdom: Galadadeniya Viharaya, with its decorative friezes, murals, lacquered doors and 100-foot Dig-geya hall, Lankatilake Viharaya, with its dragon archway and chamber of vivid frescoes, and Embekke Devale, famed for its superb wooden pillars intricately carved with dancers, musicians, wrestlers, soldiers, and mythical beasts.
| | HOTEL: The Citadel (B, D) | | | | Day 8: Friday, Kandy/Colombo/Delhi, India | | Return on a winding road to Colombo, stopping en route at Raja Maha Vihara’s massive stupa, and Kelaniya Temple, where you’ll see the gem-studded throne from which the Buddha preached in the 8th year after enlightenment. Arrive at the airport for your flight to Delhi, where you are met and transferred to your hotel. | | HOTEL: The PARK (B, D) | | | | Day 9: Saturday, Delhi/Patna/Nalanda/Rajgir/ Bodhgaya | | Fly to Patna and begin tracing Buddha’s footsteps through ancient centers of learning and pilgrimage. Stop in Nalanda, visited by the founders of both Buddhism and Jainism. Tour the ruins of the world’s most ancient university to understand the success and scale of Buddhist learning that flourished here for nearly a thousand years. Continue to Rajgir, where the Buddha preached many of his famous sermons on the Hill of Vultures, and where you’ll tour the site of the monastery built by the King for the Buddha to reside. Arrive in Bodhgaya for a stay in the town where the Buddha attained enlightenment. | | HOTEL: Sujata (B, D) | | | | Day 10: Sunday, Bodhgaya | | Spend the day amid the sylvan tranquility of Bodhgaya, where the Buddha meditated and received enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. The tree that stands today was grown from the original, and is enlivened by flocks of pilgrims chanting and praying in its shade. Nearby, the Mahabodhi Temple is the greatest and most sacred shrine to the Buddha. View the images of his life, and the gilded image smiling down from the spot where he attained Nirvana. Take the “jewel walk” where the Buddha strolled in meditation. The richly carved railings nearby are the oldest remains at Bodhgaya. | | HOTEL: Sujata (B, D) | | | | Day 11: Monday, Bodhgaya/Sarnath/Varanasi | | In the serene of morning, depart to Varanasi, winding along the muddy Ganges River. When the Buddha came here, Varanasi was already a center of learning known as Kashi, the “city of lights”. It remains Hinduism’s holiest city, the center of the earth chosen by Lord Shiva. Check into your hotel before a trip to Sarnath, where Buddha first preached after his enlightenment, urging the people to follow“Middle Way”. Walk in his steps at Deer Park, where the Blessed One met his faithful companions who were the first to hear him unfold the path that was to become the basis of the religion. Walk among stupas, ruins, and monasteries where you can still hear a distant echo of chanting ancient scholars. Visit the Archaeological Museum, one of the most important in India, and join the praying pilgrims at Mulagandha Kuti Vihara, with its life-size golden Buddha image. | | HOTEL: Clarks Varanasi (B, D) | | | | Day 12: Tuesday, Varanasi/Kathmandu, Nepal | | To get a sense of Hindu rituals of cleansing, dying and being cremated on the banks of the Holy River Ganga, focus this morning on the riverside ghats. For the best perspective, take in the scene from a boat ride at daybreak when the riverbank is in perfect alignment with the rising sun, an especially sacred and powerful time. Afterwards walk through town, where Hinduism surrounds you -- in the decorated doorways, glittering temples, and web of lanes swelled with throngs of people. After your tour fly to Kathmandu and stroll the city, from the ancient monuments of Durbar Square to the narrow lanes and markets nearby. Unlike most capital cities, which have new sections as well as their ancient quarters, Kathmandu and virtually the entire Valley remains quiet, as they have been for many hundreds of years. | | HOTEL: The Everest (B, D) | | | | Day 17: Sunday, London/USA | | Transfer to the airport and board your flight home, forever inspired by these spiritual lands. | | | | | : , Extension to The Dalai Lama’s Hometown | | Visit the Dalai Lama’s hometown in Dharamsala, India, with our five-day tour extension. Here the 14th Dalai Lama lives in exile, having fled from Tibet with his followers after a failed revolt against Chinese rule in 1959. Awarded the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize, he continues to lead in the nonviolent effort to free Tibet and keep Tibetan culture and customs alive. | | | | | Day 17: Sunday, Delhi/Chandigarh/Dharamsala | | Transfer this morning to the Shatabdi Express Train to Himachal Pradesh, a small state of hill towns and Himalayan Mountains, bordered to the east by Tibet. On arrival in Chandigarh, set off on a breathtaking drive through flower-strewn valleys and glorious mountain vistas. Arrive this evening in Dharamsala, a vibrant community of Tibetan exiles and the seat of His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, born Tenzin Gyamtso in 1935 and enthroned in 1940. | | HOTEL: Himqueen (B, D) | | | | Day 18: Monday, Dharamsala | | Begin the day with a visit to the Dalai Lama’s main temple, Namgyal Monastery. View the giant Buddha statues including Avalokiteshwara, brought here from Lhasa. Join the devout in circumambulating the temple and rotating the prayer wheels. Afterwards explore the Tibetan enclave of Dharamsala. Browse the street shops selling momos and butter tea, walk among monks in flowing maroon robes, and women in traditional Tibetan clothes walking serenely by while turning their prayer wheels. | | HOTEL: Himqueen (B, D) | | | | Day 19: Tuesday, Dharamsala/Chandigarh/Delhi | | Depart early this morning back to Chandigarh, where the Shatabdi Express train whisks you back to Delhi. Upon arrival tonight, you are met and escorted to your hotel. | | HOTEL: The PARK (B, D) | | | | Day 20: Wednesday, Delhi | | Today is at leisure to explore Delhi on your own, or perhaps join an optional day-trip to the Taj Mahal for a stirring conclusion to your tour. | | HOTEL: The PARK (B, D) | | | | Day 21: Thursday, Delhi/Europe/USA | | Enriched by your sojourn to the lands of the Buddha, you depart for Europe today and connect with an onward flight to the USA.
Other possible extensions for your tour include the Taj Mahal, or the Maldives Islands. | | | |
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| Tour Costs Include:
- Roundtrip international airfare USA/Europe, and a connection to Sri Lankan Airlines direct service to Sri Lanka.
- Private air-conditioned transfers as per itinerary.
- 3 to 5-star hotel accommodations as per itinerary.
- Buffet breakfast (B) and dinner (D) daily at hotels.
- Sightseeing with private driver/guide throughout, including all entrance fees as per itinerary.
- Porterage and baggage handling of one piece per person.
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| Not Included are any international airport taxes, airline insurance surcharges, passport and visa fees, medical charges for inoculations, excess baggage or shipping charges, travel insurance, items of a personal nature such as laundry, beverages, telephone/internet/fax charges, optional sightseeing, and gratuities to driver/guides.
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